


Are They the Same or Are They the Same?

by SoHaraTrash



Category: USWNT - Fandom, Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Slow Burn, US Women's Soccer National Team, also cute coffee shop moments because we all yearn for those, camping because it’s what the gays deserve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:39:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23234113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoHaraTrash/pseuds/SoHaraTrash
Summary: Post 2020 NWSL Trade - Emily learns to cope with the trade while also learning how to navigate her ceaseless crush on Miss Kelley O'Hara.
Relationships: Kelley O'Hara/Emily Sonnett
Comments: 37
Kudos: 265





	1. Second Soft Opening

“Well, at least you’ll have a cool booboo to show the next chick you see,” Ash ribbed Sonnett, all but gawking at the bruised and irritated cleat mark. It was perfectly outlined on the girl’s thigh. She huffed a sign of acknowledgement to the goal keeper, which quickly turned into a repressed hiss when she curiously prodded at her injury. The room was bustling after their win against Costa Rica, all of them excited to solidify their spot in the Olympics.

“Oh, what a baby,” Kelley prodded, throwing a wrapped ice pack into the girls lap before disrupting any sense of personal space between the two of them, plopping down into the seat next to the younger player and inspecting the leg herself.

“Studs up, but couldn’t draw the foul? You should take some acting lessons from Morgan or Ash before our next game,” Kelley sarcastically quips, having to quickly dodge Ash’s gloves as her joke landed.

“Well, maybe I’m into the pain,” she stated through gritted teeth as Kelley pressed the icepack harder onto the irritated flesh. Her eyebrows rise in response at Emily’s weak attempt at tolerating the discomfort, but stops her taunting as the younger girl’s arm began to shake. Becky and Mewis gave the younger girl a sympathetic frown as they finished packing up to leave the locker room, patting her on the back as they passed by.

“A heating pad, Tylenol, and some hydrogen peroxide will fix you right up” Carli said, shocking the room by not suggesting her routine ice bath.

“Not gonna lie, it is pretty gnarly looking though,” Kelley said, quieter as the room thinned out, “There’s no shame in seeing the trainers, it’s better to deal with it now and not when you’re out on the field,” Kelley stated, with just a slight hint of care and compassion in her voice.

Just as Emily was about to rebuttal and coolly state that it honestly wasn’t too bad, Horan emerged with said trainer, pointing directly at the two seated figures and heading out the door, waving for Kelley to follow and giving Sonny a thumbs up as they left the room.

‘Fuck’ she whispered under her breath, trying with all her might to ignore the pain and act as if it was just a simple scratch that could go unnoticed. The trainer was quick but thorough with his inspection, twisting and bending her leg to confirm that it was superficial more so than anything else.

“I want you to count to ten for me and close your eyes, okay,” he gently directed her, rubbing the area around the leg before she nodded. ‘1,2,3,’ and before she could count any further, a sharp sting made her entire body clench and jerk forward. The affirmations he gave fell on deaf ears as he continued to wipe the area with what seemed like the medical equivalent to a thousand beestings.

Carli reemerged into the room, announcing that the bus would be leaving in ten, giving Sonnett some relief that this activity would have to come to an end soon. Without the grass and grit embedded into her skin, the mark on her leg looked less brutal, and therefore less ‘cool’ as Ash would have described it. She thanked the trainer for his work and quickly hobbled her way to the bus.

“It was a pretty sick tackle,” Horan says as the she settles in next to her. She nods and gives a soft smile, hoping that somewhere on twitter the gif is floating around for her to save. If it’s not on the internet, did it really even happen?

“Didn’t know that you had such a low pain tolerance though,” her teammate teases her, “so tell me, how is it that you could play the full 90, but as soon as you look at it, you keel over?”

“Never claimed to be a brute, but best believe that this type of stamina and commitment is one of a kind, baby,” Lindsey scoffs at the lame attempt at an innuendo, offering an air pod to her bus mate so they can watch Netflix on her phone. Just before she was about to nod off, her phone buzzed in her hoodie pocket, startling her enough to jump at the sensation. Lindsey glares at her, in a similar state of drowsiness before taking her ear bud back and turning into the seat to rest her head.

 **‘Miss’ Kelley O’Hara:** Hey, didn’t say it earlier, but good game, bud. Second soft opening tomorrow for my infamous coffee concoctions. Tell your  
friends...or don’t, just don’t leave me on read.

 **Saucy Sonnett:** Thanks dad. I’ll drop by before breakfast. Consider this message seen.

 **Saucy Sonnett:** PS, you might have some competition soon with that coffee business of yours. I can make a mean instant coffee, and have been touching up my latte art skills ;)

 **'Miss’ Kelley O’Hara:** Okay, one of those things is not like the other. Instant coffee is considered blasphemy in my place of business, so keep it far far away from me. Heed my warnings, or you will face the wrath.

Sonnett repressed a chuckle with the last text, making a mental note to bring one of those shitty instant coffee packets with her tomorrow just to test the faith of her friend’s obsession with coffee. With her current refusal to partake in extensive uses of social media, Sonnett really did learn how to make some decent latte art, hoping to find new hobbies and activities to fill her time that didn’t rely on other people’s constant attention or affirmation. Even with shitty latte art there was still a reward- that being not so shitty coffee.

The next morning proved to be less excruciating as the initial inspection from the trainer. Obviously, direct hot water on her wound was not a sensation she would have willingly opted for so early in the morning, but the forming scab and reduced inflammation lessened her paranoia that she had developed gangrene overnight. Throwing on her most stylish groutfit, which just consisted of a baggy pair Adidas sweats and matching sweatshirt, she pocketed the instant coffee packet and made her way to Kelley’s shared room with Lindsey.

Before she could knock on the door, Lindsey swung it open on the phone, almost body checking the girl in the process. “Holy shit” she said as her tried to side step her, “you scared the shit out of me,” Sonnett laughed as Lindsey clutched her chest, and gave a slight apology. “I’m on the phone with my mom, I’ll meet you guys down there, make sure to save me a cup, pretty please.”

Without a chance to respond, Kelley peeked through the still open door and raised an eyebrow at the commotion. “If she would’ve had a cup before leaving she would’ve been alert enough to anticipate your arrival. I didn’t tell you, but my pour over coffee opens up your third eye,” Kelley claims, earning a scoff from her teammate.

“At this point, I have a feeling ‘coffee’ is just code for ‘crack',” Emily chides back, ignoring the beam of judgement her friend shoots her way as she walks over and inspects the set-up of the coffee making situation. Making a show of it, she leans against the desk table, wafting in the air as the coffee slowly drips into the kettle. Kelley’s forehead wrinkles in confusion at the weird display, continuing to watch as Emily ruffles through her pockets.

“You know, it smells delicious and all, but I am a woman with very little patience,” Emily claims, gauging Kelley’s reaction to see if she knows where this is going.

“Some would even say I like things instantly,” she says, popping her lips and flicking the small pouch of coffee between her fingers as Kelley shakes her head. ‘Blasphemy’ she sees the older woman say under her breath, and can’t resist the grin that spreads across her face.

She crosses her arms and shakes her head at her younger teammate, but gives nothing more to indicate her disapproval. A little bummed with this underwhelming response, she throws the packet atop of the desk and sits on Kelley’s already made bed. “Let me see your leg,” Kelley demands after pouring the remaining water over the filter. Emily hums, not hearing the command until Kelley is standing above her near the side of the bed. “I said…Let me see your leg,” she more boldly asserts herself into Emily’s space this time, sitting next to her on the bed and pointing at the limb in question.

“Oh…well I’m not wearing shorts underneath, and considering I don’t feel like putting on a strip tease for such a critical crowd, you’ll have to wait until practice to see.” Kelley rolls her eyes, but assumes that means the injury wasn’t too awful, like she had suspected.

“You know, I haven’t had my coffee yet, so maybe a strip tease would liven me up a little bit this morning,” she winks, patting the girl’s thigh and moving back over to the make-shift coffee station. She pours out two cups, but remembers Sonnett’s earlier text.

“If you won’t show me your battle wounds, show me your latte art skills that you so openly brag about.” Sonnett sips at the hot drink, having to resist giving an approving hum for the sake of not petting Kelley’s ego too much.

“So demanding,” she says, settling down again on Kelley’s bed, “I soooo would, but I’m waiting for my third eye to be opened. If that is achieved, then, and only then, can you behold my artistry.” Kelley settles in next to her, nudging her with her shoulder, enjoying the easy banter. The local news flashes across the screen, and little else is said between them as they enjoy their drinks, the room filled with a calm and relaxed energy, which are not the first two adjectives used to describe either defender very often.

Suddenly, Kelley gently rests her hand on Sonnett’s thigh, subtly rubbing above the area of her injury. Sonnett’s heartrate quickens, which she chalks up to the coffee, but knows that it’s the furthest thing from the truth. The hand on her upper thigh is almost indiscernible, such a light touch that it would be easy to ignore it, but her mind runs wild and her anxiety convinces her that this is anything but subtle.

Emily prays that her pounding heartbeat is not audible to the woman sitting so comfortably in her space when her thoughts are suddenly interrupted by Kelley’s admission.

“I’ve missed you,” she says, leaning her head onto Emily’s shoulder, continuing the motion with her hand. Her instinct tells her to stand up and make a joke about the older defender being clingy and needing extra affirmation as a result of missing Alex and Allie’s attention. She resists though, wrapping her free arm around her back, and restating the sentiment.

“I’ve missed you too…but in like not a lame way. In a totally cool way. You know,” she rambles, her nervous energy not matching the calm strokes she was placing on Kelley’s back. She feels Kelley shake her head, hitching her breath when she feels the woman pinch her side.

“A woman of profound words, glad we had this talk,” she says, sliding out of Emily’s grasp and pouring a to-go cup for their awaiting friend.

“Let’s get moving, I’m starving.” Emily feels a slight sense of whiplash, not knowing where this soft side of Kelley came from, but glad that she is no longer being treated like the ‘frat daddy jr.’ that she was so quickly titled her after her first few appearances at camp.

Riding down the elevator, Sonnett can’t get the smell of coffee and Kelley’s hair out of her head. Stuck in her thoughts she stares at her feet as the elevator hums, not noticing Kelley’s keen watch of her. Just before the elevator dings and the doors open, Kelley steps close to Emily’s ear, whispering “Heed my warnings” she says with a devilish grin plastered on her face, quickly leaving when the doors open, and handing off the coffee to the tall blonde.

She waves them a goodbye as she joins Press and Becky, giving a wink to Sonnett as she follows the group into the breakfast area.


	2. Let the Games Begin

“Wow…” Lindsey says, causing Sonnett some panic. She walks with her into the eating area, waiting for a response to go off of.

“This is pretty fucking good.” Emily’s panic subsides, telling herself to calm down and act normal- nothing happened anyways, Kelley teases people all the time, this was no different. Emily nods and continues her morning as usual, preparing the prettiest avo toast possible, even with her limited means with the hotel’s salad bar, and mocks Rose’s poor attempts at learning the renegade at the table. Their practice goes by just as smoothly as yesterdays, minus the minor injury, but Ash pounces on the opportunity once again, mocking the younger defender as they finish up their huddle in the locker room.

“So, tell me, have any compassionate souls flocked to your beck and call with that big ol' booboo on your leg?”

Flicking off the goal keeper, the room laughs at the overdramatic display of bro-like mockery. Her eyes flicker to Kelley’s locker, noticing the traces of a smile still on her face as she finishes zipping up her bag.

“I hear Christen is a real big softie for bruises and scabs, you should definitely ask for her motherly care,” Kelley says from across the room. Tobin glares, and Christen’s face scrunches up with distaste. Emily quickly jumps to her feet, pulling her shorts up, dramatically hobbling over to the forward, pushing her leg closer to the woman’s face. Her playful disapproval quickly turns into outward disgust, pushing the leg and Emily’s body away from her as she eyes the warped skin.

“At least put a band aid on it, you savage,” Christen all but shrieks, unable to outmaneuver Emily’s lanky body.

“Only if you give it a kiss,” Emily smirks back, earning her a quick thump from Tobin on her back. Christen rolls her eyes, but is happy that the younger player has removed herself from her lap. The trainer appears yet again, convincing her that they must have a spidey sense for when players are talking about injuries or rehab. He beckons her over with a soft smile, waving the peroxide and gauze in the air.

“Won’t be as bad as yesterday, but you may need a better poker face if everyone is in the room this time,” he whispers, causing her to shake her head and give a small eye roll to prove that she is, in fact, not a whimp. Again, she hikes up her shorts, earning a wolf whistle from Lindsey and Ash, and attempts to distract herself by counting the ceiling tiles as he dabs at the mark with peroxide and ointments. Once her leg is thoroughly wrapped in bright neon gauze, the trainer leaves to go look over Rose’s wrist, allowing her some time to change and pack her things neatly this time.

Just as she’s about to follow the crowd of players leaving the room, Kelley hip checks her, causing her to almost lose her balance and bump into several of the empty chairs in front of the lockers.

“Sorry, must be from the crack- I mean coffee from earlier,” Kelley feigns an apology, placing her hand on Emily’s lower back to stabilize the younger player.

Emily’s cheeks flush with embarrassment. A slight cough grabs her attention, clearly meant for one of them as they block the door. Christen raises her eyebrows, expecting them to move or leave like everyone else. Instead, Emily looks back, motioning towards her leg.

“Um…it might not be a band aid, but for one, way cooler looking, and two, far more hygienic than ten minutes ago. I hear that kissing it better is scientifically proven to work.”

Christen can’t resist laughing, unable to take Sonnett’s weird attempt at flirting as serious. “Okay,” she says, quickly grabbing the leg in question and kneeling to place a chaste kiss atop the layered gauze. “All better,” she says with a chipper and teasing tone.

The three make their way to the bus, Emily noticing that Kelley’s touch still hasn’t left her back. Just before they reach the first step, Kelley subtly pulls her back, ducking into her ear and whispering “Be careful who you ask to kiss it better, I hear Tobin has quite a bite.” Emily knows that this is nothing more than a joke, but hopes that her former Thorn teammate wouldn’t suspect any attempt at flirting from her, and quickly shoves the feeling of butterflies down once Kelley removes herself from the girl’s side and makes her way up the bus steps.

The team settles in for the night back at the hotel, deciding on having a movie and game night to pass the time. For some god awful reason, Rose and Lindsey decide to put on horror movies, while Lynn and Mal ask about their engagement plans and potential wedding details. Neither option is anything that remotely intrigues Emily, and the temptation to browse through Instagram becomes more and more tempting. Before she can fully log in, a text buzzes in her hand.

**‘Miss’ Kelley O’Hara: What are you youngins up to? I’m bored but have no desire to leave the hotel to get ice cream with Ash and Ali.**

**Saucy Sonnett: Ice cream sounds far better than anything happening here**

**Saucy Sonnett: Rose and Lindsey put on The Nun, and the other girls are talking about wedding plans and other very girly sappy things**

**Saucy Sonnett: Equally as horrifying as watching the movie, if you ask me**

No other responses came through for the next few minutes, so Emily figured Kelley had opted with the choice of ice cream…because, duh. Throwing her phone on the bed, Emily refrained from her desire to plug back into social media, redirecting her attention to the film on the screen. Just as the music silenced, and Lynn and the girls quietly skim through their phones for pictures of rings, a loud knock on the door startled all three of them watching the movie, earning a yelp from Rose. Kelley emerged from the corner, laughing at the picture of them on the bed.

“Boo…Did I get ya” she says with a sense of cockiness in her voice, pushing Emily over to make room for herself on the now overcrowded bed. Rose, laying with body at the end of the bed, swung her feet into Emily’s face, testing her patience for the night. She felt hot, a little bit wired from being startled, and far too paranoid to admit as the movie drew closer to the end.

Attempting to distract herself from the graphic images on the screen Emily leans into Kelley, “is this part of the wrath you were warning me about? Because honestly, I might have heart palpitations if this continues.”

Kelley shushes her, patting her leg, ignoring the question altogether. Emily grits through the rest of the movie, jumping and squeezing her eyes shut when the music made the hair on her back raise. Before she knew it, it was over, and Lindsey and Rose were already flipping through the remaining horror options on the streaming site.

The other girls settled more comfortably on the other bed, now invested in choosing the optimal horror flick for the rest of the night with them. Emily sighed, knowing she was in it for the long haul, sandwiched between Kelley and Rose. Lindsey gladly declared it a ‘girl’s night,’ throwing soft plush blankets towards each pair of friends.

“Not sure if you can call it a girl’s night,” Emily states, “Wine, or some type of cocktail is a necessity.”

Lindsey rolls her eyes, shutting off the lights before positioning herself at the end of the bed near Rose. Paranormal Activity is what they decided on, with Mal making an argument that it’s so bad that its funny, which also made it notably less scarring than the previous movie. Emily takes a deep breath after readjusting the shared blanket between her and Kelley. In an attempt to make herself as comfortable on the crowded bed as possible she crosses her arms, propping herself up against the headboard as the movie starts.

She can feel Kelley’s stare, noticing the older player’s face in her peripheral, but ignores it, even if its unsuccessful as her attention keeps getting pulled away from the screen.

Kelley decidedly ignores the way Emily had positioned the blanket, mimicking her position sitting up against the headboard, but pulls the plush fabric around her neck, which just so happens to encompass Emily as well. As the movie begins to pick up in pace, jump scares and sudden loud bouts of music and dialogue have proved how skittish Emily is.

‘Fuck’ she curses under breath after a particularly loud jump scare, removing her hand from under the blanket to run it through her hair, a nervous tick Kelley has picked up on.

Just like that same morning, Kelley’s hand finds a place on Emily’s thigh, rubbing aimless but soothing patterns on the exposed skin. Emily closes her eyes, ignoring the screen for a second, and hoping that her heartrate slows down.

“It’s not real, you know,” Kelley whispers, putting firmer pressure on the girl’s leg. Emily nods, still leaving her eyes shut as the screams on the t.v continue, placing her own hand over Kelley’s underneath the blanket. She feels the older woman next to her still and stiffen for a second, but quickly relaxes back into touch.

Squeezing and tightening her grip anytime something flashed on the screen, Kelley couldn’t repress her laughter anymore. Mal joined in, breaking the tension in the room as everyone realized how cheesy the acting was, and truly how predictable the movie was.

Emily frowned, knowing that in part, she was being made fun of, but was glad no one else knew why Kelley was the one to break the silence. To toughen her act, she instead focused her attention on Kelley’s touch and the thoughts running through her brain, choosing to have her heart-rate soar for other reasons.

It wasn’t a super well known fact, but of course Emily crushed on Miss Kelley O’Hara…who wouldn’t? It wasn’t a crippling or socially awkward issue to confront, because everyone else made it obvious that Kelley’s charm and good looks were undeniable, but it was hard for Emily to remember that Kelley was like this with everyone.

Kelley's soft, compassionate, a little gritty, and even vulgar at times, but at the end of the day, she is one of the most loyal and dedicated people to have around.

No one had talked to Emily much about the trade, excluding Ash and Ali for obvious reasons, treating it like it was the biggest elephant in the room. She was hurt by the decision from Portland, betrayed that she was their number one pick only four years ago, but now was ironically traded so Portland could get the first pick for Sophia Smith for their upcoming season. The trade left a horrible taste in her mouth with Mark, as well as all those on the boards to approve the trade, feeling like they refused to acknowledge how big a shift the transition would be, not only in terms of play style, but the culture and city behind the game as well.

Kelley was one of the first people to call Sonnett, asking if she was okay and what this meant for her career. After the first couple minutes of repressed crying and very indistinguishable mumbling, Kelley facetimed her and made a show of preparing her vegan casserole, claiming it was the best and closest thing to soul food she has had in years. Kelley was quick to learn that tactile and hands on projects were far more productive in getting Emily to open up and destress, opposed to her many other teammates who could vent and rant for hours to expunge their emotions.

The memory of Kelley making her weird vegetable bake, which Emily claimed was not ‘real food’ nor solid enough to be classified as a casserole made the younger player smile, grateful that the dark room hid her expression. They would for sure think she was losing her mind if they noticed her face as the camera panned over to a girl getting dragged down the stairs. Just as the film was about to end, silence filled the room, only to be abruptly ruined by the slamming of the hotel door, causing everyone to jump, including Kelley.

Kelley tightly gripped the inside of Sonnett’s thigh, completely spooked by the noise and accompanied the other girls in muttering swears under their breath, watching as Sam emerged from the entry way.

Sonnett’s body reacted in a way she was not use to, a strong pull in her core and chill sent down her back. It had been more than a year since she had gone on a date, and even longer since someone had made physical contact with anywhere near _that_ part of her body. She leaned back further into the pillows behind her, subtly shifting the hand to a position that wasn’t so high up on her thigh, and patted Kelley’s back, feigning an attempt to provide some type of mutual comfort.

“Oh…my bad guys…but I have wine!” Sam announces, flicking the lights on, ignoring the way Mal and Rose side eye her for burning their retinas. “How did you sneak that in? Never would have thought you would be the one obtaining us banned contraband” Kelley projects, watching Mewis uncap the first bottle and open the bag of red solo cups.

“I have my ways O’Hara,” she attempts to wink, but fails miserably, having Kelley chuckle at the sight.

Giving Sonnett a light pat under the blanket, just above the girl’s knee, she finally removes her hand and stands up, stripping the younger player of the blanket, running over to distribute cups to the rest of the room.

“Since you’re the one that demanded alcohol was needed to make this official, you are required to make up a game for us to play for the rest of the night” Lindsey states, eyeing Emily as she sips at the sweet pink moscato in her cup.

“So lame,” Emily attempts to mutter her breath, taking a big sip of her now half-filled cup. “Truth or Dare? Or maybe something easier like telephone?”

“Ooh, no, I love truth or dare,” Rose all but screams from the end of the bed, jumping up onto her knees, pulling Lindsey up with her. The room groans but no one fully resists the idea. They all remain on the beds, but position themselves so everyone can comfortably sit and see each other.

“Okay, I’ll start and ask you first,” Rose declares, looking at Sonnett. “Truth or Dare?”

She scoffs at the question, “Dare, of course,” Lynn and Mal clap, anticipating something wild to start off the game. “Okay…I dare you to send a nude to the last person you texted.” Kelley chokes on her drink, and Emily stutters out a rebuttal.

“But what if it was my mom? I can’t do that.” Rose looks at her, unamused and disbelieving of the claim.

“Fine, a PG-13 picture. Doesn’t need to be full frontal, but it should be tasteful.” Rose’s smug attitude makes everyone else laugh, but Emily nervously picks at her nails.

“Fine…goddamnit. Give me like 2 minutes, I’m doing this in the bathroom where you can’t see me.”

“How will we know you actually did it though,” Rose quirks, Emily’s face was for sure filled with the flush of embarrassment, which was only heightened by the sweet alcohol she had quickly consumed.

“I’ll show you the picture, but no more topless or risqué texts to unsuspecting people in anyone else’s contacts tonight, okay?” They nod in agreement and pinky promise as she heads to the bathroom.

**‘Miss’ Kelley O’Hara: PG-13 ma’am. I don’t make the rules, just enforce them ;)**

The text does little to ease her anxiety, but she decides to act like it’s a band aid, willing herself to just rip it off and get it done with. She takes her shirt off, placing it on the counter top, and adjusts her sports bra and sweatpants before deciding what to actually send. She places a hand on top of the counter, and angles her hips to have the v of her abs pop out. Content with the pose, she grabs her camera and positions it so her face is cut off and only her arm and bare midsection can be seen.

Message sent. Message seen. Then the three dots appear. Emily hopes no one notices Kelley is checking her phone, praying they don’t connect the dots… (no pun intended.)

She returns to the group, adjusting her shirt and hair once more, and watches as Mal attempts to chug the remainder of her wine in one breath, everyone chanting along.

Before she even has the chance to question what is happening, Rose is climbing on top of her shoulders from the side of the bed and demanding to see the proof. Emily pulls up the picture from her library, and dims the phone. Rose squeals, sounding more like a mouse than a full sized human and sits back down. Emily refuses to sit next to Kelley after sending the pic, and pushes Rose further up the bed so she can sit on the edge by Lindsey.

They continue varying rounds of the game, all getting buzzed far quicker than they would have anticipated, and call it quits by the time it reaches 10. As they all leave Rose and Mal’s room, Kelley hooks her arm through Emily’s, pulling them behind the rest of the group.

“You sure are clingy, Miss Kelley” Emily bluntly states, forgetting to filter her judgment as Kelley continues to pull them further away from the group, directing them to empty lounge area, furnished with only a few small recliners and one very undersized couch. Kelley pats the seat next to her on said couch, looking cheery and pink, no doubt from the bottle of wine she helped finish. Emily laughs, but obliges, noticing the way their thighs and shoulders are all but squeezed together as a result of this arrangement.

Kelley hums, placing a hand on Sonnett’s back, tracing her way up the girl’s neck, twirling her finger with some of the hair not pulled into her bun. Sonnett resists the content sigh that wants to escape her lips, instead shifting so she is looking more directly at the woman, who still keeps her hand placed firmly on the back of Emily’s neck.

Finally, Kelley leans in, putting her nose near the outside of Emily’s ear, close enough that she can feel the breath on her skin. Her stomach tightens and her hands clench at the feeling, knowing that such soft touches and close whispering drives her mad, in both an anxiety inducing way, as well as a sexually frustrated way.

“You’re a very secretive little girl, Miss Sonnett” Kelley all but purrs into her ear. Her breath is shaky, and she doesn’t trust that her voice will hide the nerves bubbling in her stomach. She attempts to huff to indicate a type of laugh, noticing Kelley remains in the same spot, clearly not done with her teasing.

“I really hope you didn’t also send that picture to your mom…I can foresee that being a very awkward conversation.” A real laugh finally breaks Emily’s anxious thoughts, unable to fight against the natural Kelley O’Hara charm. Kelley’s hold on Emily only tightens though, her other arm now crossing across Emily’s front and wrapping around her neck.

“Clingy, Kelley. Keyword of the day for you, huh?” She blubbers out, trying to loosen the grip by pulling back. No response and no movement, so Emily just accepts it and cuddles into her friend, pulling the defender almost entirely on her lap and placing her own head in the crook of Kelley’s neck.

With no words said for a few seconds, Emily forces her body to relax. She focuses on the soft twirl of Kelley’s fingers on the nape of her neck, and the way Kelley’s slow and steady breathing doesn’t quite match the way the woman’s heart pounds loudly in her ears. Suddenly, something cracks in Emily. A tear, then multiple come down her face. She attempts to secretly wipe them away, sniffling to gain some composure, but her act is clearly blown when Kelley pulls back and pushes away the hair that stuck to Sonnett’s forehead.

“I’m going to miss it,” is all she is able to choke out. Kelley’s frown expresses the genuine sympathy she feels for the younger player. Without being prompted this time, she continues, “my apartment, my friends, the team, the fans, even the lady at the coffee shop who knows my order….Oh my god it’s so stupid to be so upset, but I can’t get over it.” She didn’t realize it, but she had begun to rock back and forth with Kelley in her lap, self-soothing, but strengthening their hold on each other with no real conscious effort. Kelley whispers soft affirmations in her ear, refusing to agree that anything about her reaction is stupid.

“You need to talk to Lindsey, Em.” Hearing the nickname snaps her out of her cyclical thoughts, prompting her to rub at her now very swollen eyes, releasing her grip on the woman in her lap.

“You can’t really ignore it anymore. We’re going to be playing there in a coupe of days. It might feel like the end of the world, but honestly, Ali and Ash would never let you struggle." She pushes some stray hairs behind Emily's ear, forcing the younger player to look at her.

"And who knows, maybe you can help dig that team out of the rut they’ve been in.” She tries to joke, “Plus, you have Alex. She would murder someone if I told her you didn’t feel welcome.”

Emily shakes her head at the idea, all too familiar with the wrath of Alex Morgan, and knows that it’s not the people she’s scared of, but what she’s leaving behind.

“I just want to feel wanted, Kelley” she quietly whispers. She knows Kelley knows all about having to work hard and grind to get to back to where she was, but the feeling of being outright rejected and cast aside by a team that you considered family cut so deep that the deprecating thoughts of self-worth became a regular and routine part of her day.

They remain in this position and continue their soft and compassionate admissions for a while until Ali stumbles into the room, speaking on the phone, blurting out ‘Oh…my bad, I’ll leave,’ before hightailing it out of the dimly lit lounge.

Kelley clears her throat, fixes her hair, and attempts to stand up to suggest that this moment is over. Emily laughs, watching the older player attempt to shake out her stiff legs, and catches her before her leg locks. “Jesus, what a day,” Kelley shakes her head as they walk with Emily’s arms wrapped around her back. They finally part ways, Kelley placing a gentle kiss on Sonnet’s cheek after they wish each other goodnight.

Just as she settles into her own bed, quietly tiptoeing her way into the room and silently changing into her night time shorts, her phone buzzes on the nightstand and lights up the room. ‘Shit, shit, shit,’ she curses under her breath quietly, hoping that Lynn doesn’t wake up.

**‘Miss’ Kelley O’Hara: I’ll talk to Ali tomorrow. That woman has the worst timing, but the best imagination…**

**‘Miss’ Kelley O’Hara: I’m holding you to your word with the latte art. Come by tomorrow morning before we get on the buses. I’d pay top dollar to see you outdo those Instagram videos.**

Emily smiles, sending a quick thumbs up emoji to the older player, adding a winky face for dramatic effect. Although the day was a constant wave of anxiety and stress, Kelley seemed to be the calm she needed. The only downside was that her crush was proving to be another emerging issue. Crushing on an older, definitely not-single, and most obviously, fellow teammate was a 0/10, not at all recommended experience.


	3. Black and Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one with the massage...sort of.

The next morning, Sonnett woke up to a sharp knock at their door. Dragging her body out of her bed, she disregarded the way her hair clung to her face, and the way her shorts had radically shifted on her body.

Lindsey greeted her, far too awake and far too cheery to be acceptable this early in the morning.

“I was promised coffee and good conversation, so let’s get it poppin’” she states, pushing Emily back into the room, causing the blonde to stumble into the wall. A slight pounding behind her eyes indicated a hangover, and Lindsey’s radiant energy was no help in anyway.

“Brush your hair and teeth and let’s get mooooving,” the tall blonde says, dramatically throwing her body onto the bed.

Lynn had already left the room earlier, presumably to go facetime her boyfriend. Emily checked herself in the mirror, absolutely shocked by the state of her face; deep lines from the pillow were marked across her cheeks, her hair was seemingly glued to varying parts of her forehead, and most notably, the deep purple bags under her eyes looked as if she had been cold cocked by someone during practice yesterday. ‘Holy shit,’ she whispers, hoping that a quick shower would somehow freshen her face in some capacity.

Feeling somewhat human after the shower, she quickly got dressed in whatever clean clothes were still in her suitcase, telling Lindsey to advert her eyes, as if they didn’t change in front of each other on a regular basis.

“Kelley went out this morning and bought some weird milk frother thing.” Lindsey paused, attempting to clear her throat as they walked down the quiet hallway.

“When I woke up, all I heard was buzzing…and not the kind you hear from a phone.” Emily scoffed, confused with why Lindsey was so flushed and shy about this story. The blonde continued, “I was petrified that I was going to look over and see Kelley using some weird ass sex toy.”

The tips of Lindsey’s ears revealed that she genuinely was concerned Kelley would be bold enough to do…well _that_ , in front of her, turning bright red before the two could enter the room. Emily shook her head, imagining Lindsey dead ass awake but cemented in her position on the bed for fear of witnessing anything remotely sexual involving Kelley.

The tall blonde’s embarrassment was cute, knowing that they’re all very transparent on the team, but sex and personal details about one’s sex life was information they very rarely disclosed with one another, and is one of the only topics that could make everyone in the room act like highs schoolers getting the talk from the parents for the first time.

“Good morning, America” Kelley loudly yells as the two girls enter the room, clearly unaffected by the mass amount of wine she had also consumed the night before. She showcases her new purchase as soon as they near her, putting on an act like she was Vanna White.

“Are you pumped to have more of the best coffee of your life,” the brunette wiggles her eyebrows, already chipper despite the sun barely being up. Emily rolls her eyes, grabbing the tool in question off the desk and giving it a once over. She buzzes it in Lindsey’s face, causing a stark blush to creep up the taller woman’s neck and cheeks while giving her a knowing smile.

“Already made everyone a cup, but it’s okay. I’ll volunteer my cup as tribute for your latte art,” Kelley says, ushering Sonnett over to the desk table. Emily sets forth on the task, feeling both the women crowd over her to witness her ‘magic.’

In all honesty, it turns out better than she anticipated, getting the foam leaf perfect on her first try. Just before Kelley and Lindsey could snap the perfect picture of it to post on their insta stories, in typical Sonnett fashion, she runs her finger through the foam, successfully ruining it, smearing the picture-perfect latte.

Kelley and Lindsey stare at her with slack jaws, “dude, that’s so gross. Make me another, minus your nasty cooties” Kelley states, with no hint of humor in her voice. Despite Kelley’s obvious repulsion, Lindsey seems to pay no mind, gladly taking the cup and sitting on the bed to watch whatever early morning soccer was streaming.

“Teach me how to do it,” Kelley softly whispers as Emily finishes frothing the warmed milk. “Uhh…” she stutters, not quite sure how serious to take the defender, feeling a type of whiplash with how Kelley could go from outward disgust to sweet and mild in a matter of seconds.

“Okay, sure, give me your hand,” she tells herself to act like she’s teaching Lindsey or Rose, meaning, treat Kelley like a toddler and give her exact and very easy to follow steps.

She forcefully makes Kelley grip the handle of the milk cup, trying to control how fast she pours and the direction of the pull. She steadily pours the milk, verbalizing each step as she goes along, squeezing Kelley’s hand tighter as she attempts to pull the milk back to make the perfect shape of the flower. She finally loosens her grip once she feels like her ‘art’ is complete. She steps back and all but gleams at the older defender, yet again proud of her work. Lindsey emerges again, snooping behind them and getting the picture they both had wanted with her original cup.

“Dope shit, Sonny. Portland definitely rubbed off on you,” and with just that one word, Sonnett felt a tear in her heart. Although the sudden shock of hearing Lindsey finally acknowledge anything related to the trade, or Portland for that matter, made her body turn cold, Kelley’s steady and firm eye contact encouraged her to broach the subject.

Continuing with the same tone that Lindsey had used, Emily shoots back “let’s just hope Orlando has a decent place for avo toast. Old people are all over breakfast food, but I’m not quite sure the hipster scene has hit them yet.” Her soft smile is met with Lindsey’s own, both knowing that a sadness is hidden behind their subtle teasing. Kelley quickly shoves a cup of coffee in Emily’s hand, wanting to intercede in the silence and redirect the conversation in a way that’s more up front.

“Have you started looking at apartments yet?” She says, patting the space next to her on the bed for Emily to sit. Lindsey sips at her coffee, peering over the cup and awaiting Sonnett’s response.

“Honestly, no.” Lindsey’s eyebrows rise in slight shock, “tomorrow will the first time I physically talk to Mark and the coaching staff. They’re supposed to help me set up my living situation then, but as of right now, I moved most of my stuff to Georgia, and split my time between Emma’s and my parents. Once one of them starts getting annoyed with me, I switch houses,” she lamely jokes.

She finally goes in to take a sip of coffee, nearly spitting it out as a distinctly salty and acidic taste hits her tongue. She scrunches her face, forcing the hot liquid down, then loudly shouts ‘what the fuck!’ obliviously directed at Kelley as she snickers.

“Did you lace it with something, what the fuck is wrong with this,” she says, pushing the cup dangerously close to Kelley’s face, while also attempting to pry Kelley’s cup from her grip.

“You knew the rules! Mess with the bull, you get the horns, baby” Kelley says, obviously proud that her ‘prank’ was a success.

Unbeknownst to the blonde, Kelley had made Emily’s cup special- using the very packet of coffee she had brought over yesterday, and topped it off with three packets of salt, rather than the artificial sweetener that Lindsey kept on hand. Kelley wasn’t heartless though, and made sure to make more than enough of her coffee to (slightly) make up for the offensive prank. The three continue to casually chat about potential sight-seeing adventures and other lighthearted topics surrounding Orlando, suggesting that both Kelley and Lindsey hope to visit Sonnett once the move is official.

Packing up and arranging themselves on the bus per usual, the tension and swirling anxiety she had felt the entire week radically subsided. She wasn’t particularly happy or looking forward to officially being a resident of Florida, even if it was only part time considering the looming Olympics and other commitments with the national team, but was glad that her follow teammates supported and understood her trepidations.

“If you don’t meet a surfer chick while you’re down there, you’re doing it all wrong,” Lindsey says, as they settle in watching whatever series Lindsey has downloaded on her phone. Emily rolls her eyes, knowing that finding a romantic interest is probably one of the last things on her mind with all of this going on. She pinches Lindsey’s side, not wanting to continue this conversation, opting for a nap instead.

After getting to the hotel, dropping off their gear in their new assigned rooms, and heading to practice, the day moves by quickly. The team’s radiant energy is palpable, everyone determined to reclaim the She Believes Cup, even if they all know the tournament is nothing more than slightly more amped up friendlies.

During practice, Carli absolutely nails Ash’s hand during their shoot out drills, immediately bringing her to her knees. Ali and Sonnett are the first to surround her, instantly waving over the field medics and trainers when they see the tears run down Ash’s face. Sonnett gives them space, instead asserting herself in Rose and Abby’s bubble to entertain herself.

In the past two months, Ali and Ash have been Sonnett’s silent protectors. Unlike Kelley who makes herself physically and audibly known whenever she sense’s Emily’s anxiety, the two Orlando players instead empathetically relate to Emily’s situation, giving her time and space, while also being a source of constant and subtle encouragement when they felt they could give it. Both of them have traveled across the globe, quite literally separated by an ocean at points during their career, and have reinforced that it’s not the distance that makes friendships, or any type of relationship last, it’s about the commitment and support.

No matter how hard Emily wanted to stick to the couple and act as their child, like she often did with Alex and Kelley, a part of her resented the fact that they were able to sustain such a relationship with one another and seemingly never get fed up with the way the league and federation could toss them around. Their maturity made her feel naïve, childish, and almost ungrateful, even though she knew that was the last thing they were trying to imply. She had told them both this sentiment, and both, again, laid it on thick with the sweet and thoughtful words.

Sonnett didn’t think of herself as a complete hard ass, but at times was shocked by how repelled she could get when people tried to tap into her emotions, and even more so when they began to open up in front of her. The nitty gritty truth is what she liked. She wanted someone to tell her that she should get over it- it’s not a matter of what you want, but you need to get better in the league. The only person to come close to this, was Kelley…and Carli, but that’s just Carli’s typical state of being: hard ass.

“Yo…Sonnett, close your mouth and stop thinking about Kelley so hard, practice is over,” Lindsey says, startling the girl out of her thoughts, trying to think of a witty retort, but instead is knocked square in the face by a fly away ball hit by Carli.

“Carlos!” Ali screams, obviously getting fed up with the older players attempt to flex. “1 vs 1, swear to god I will break your ankles if you keep that shit up,” she attempts to tease, but her tone clearly conveys that nothing about it is a joke. Carli apologies to the blonde as she walks by to head to the showers, a first for Emily. “Hold on, come back, I need this on video- once in a lifetime moment,” this time, the thump on the back she receives from Ali is well deserved.

They all join Carli in her routine ice bath, almost overcrowding the small tub, with six of the girls squeezed into it. Sonnett was wedged between Mewis and Carli, internally reminding herself to avoid contact with Kelley, not wanting to acknowledge or sustain the crush any more than she needed to. Her attempt was futile though, and she should have known better- Kelley sits directly across from her, flicking the cold water to earn a sharp gasp from her and Carli.

“Keep that up and I’ll have to water board you,” Sonnett tries to joke, her chattering teeth making the statement far less compelling than her desired intention.

“Kinky…I like that,” Kelley retorts, with her infamous smirk and eyebrow raise making the blonde blush, growing hot despite almost her entire body being submerged in the freezing water.

After finishing their cool down, they all settle in their rooms before dinner. Kelley’s phone buzzes, and sees that she’s been added in a group chat with the younger players, but notices one person in particular is missing. They were plotting on scaring Emily after dinner, and wanted Kelley to be the one to get her into the room, a feat that wouldn’t be hard at all. All throughout dinner Mewis and Mal gave the older defender a knowing look, observing how casually Kelley could rope Emily in.

“Em, you’re hanging out with me tonight. Gotta have you in my sight after some of those threats you made after practice today,” Emily looked startled at the declarative plan, but agrees anyway. Mal and Sam give Kelley a subtle thumbs up, quietly slipping back to the room before Kelley and Emily finish eating.

As they walk through the lobby and back to the elevators, Emily feels Kelley’s vice like grip on the back of her neck, causing her to shoot her shoulders up to try and get away from the pressure. “Can I help you ma’am” she asks, still trying to shrug off her hold. The touch is loosened and instead turns into a more subtle massage as Kelley kneads at the base of the younger players head. Emily briefly closes her eyes, not realizing how tight and sore her body was until that moment.

“I’m so down for a free massage, if that’s what this is,” she says calmly, but immediately becomes suspicious of Kelley’s silence. “Or are you tenderizing me for something,” she says, stepping forward and into the hallway once the elevator opens. Kelley shakes her head, remaining quiet as they walk to her room. She fumbles with the key card, intentionally swiping too slow and bending it at the wrong angle to act as though she is incapable of opening the door, giving the girl’s inside the room a que that they were there.

Emily’s lack of patience gets to her, “just give me the card, Kel, oh my god. Maybe you should slow down on the coffee,” she says, pushing the door open and immediately is sprayed in the face with silly string. She’s brought to her knees amid her panic, bringing Kelley down to the floor with her.

“I fucking hate you guys, holy shit,” she says as she tries to untangle the tacky substance from her hair. “Are you actually twelve? Who just had this lying around,” she throws whatever string from her hair at Kelley, using the players body to stand herself up, effectively pushing the brunette down to the ground again. Rose and Lindsey mock Emily, replaying the video over and over, proving to her that they are in fact, actual children. Despite knowing it was a joke, Emily’s mood turned, feeling annoyed and overly stimulated after such a long day of practice and endless teasing.

“If anyone else so much as touches me tonight, I’m beating them up. I’m off limits, okay” Emily tries to intimidate the room, earning nothing more than forced laughs and shit eating grins.

“Does that rule also apply to Kelley, or no,” Rose says, quickly ducking out of the way as Lindsey attempts to smack her. Both of the women in question make fleeting eye contact with each other, but do little else to acknowledge the teasing comment. The rest of the night plays out like usual, all of them talking about nothing and everything at the same time, Rose showing pictures of her dog, and Kelley endlessly teasing Lindsey about her admitted crush on Lucy Bronze.

“I’m not saying I would ever actually talk to her! I’m just saying, she’s pretty and she’s good at soccer. What else do you need,” Lindsey tries to defend herself, but knows that Kelley, being the older, wiser, yet definitely most vulgar one out of all of them wants to push it further.

“Doesn’t sound like you would want to do much talking with her anyways, the way you were just drooling over her arms, you perv.” She pinches Lindsey and rolls over on top of the girl to grab for her phone. They wrestle around, only stopping once Rose joined in and nearly suffocates both of them with her pillow.

“Your entire generation has such a weird thing with being choked out. You guys must forget normal adults are not into that,” Kelley breathlessly says, her face flustered and hair a mess. Rose scowls at her, muttering ‘I am a normal adult’ under her breath. After that final rowdy altercation, the room settles down, practice and their dinners finally hitting all of them.

With the room finally calming down, Emily looks over at Kelley, who’s sitting on the other bed with Lindsey and Sam, watching her mindlessly scroll through her phone and smirk at whatever dumb meme or video that pops up on her timeline.

Her eyes become fixated on all the little freckles that adorn Kelley’s neck, and a sudden desire to trace them is all she can think about. The older player’s strong build emphasizes the flexed tendons in her neck, and her square and sharp jaw casts a deep shadow under her face, where Emily’s gaze continues further down the her body. Her own face feels flush, and her body grows warm as she realizes how incredibly hot Kelley is, imaging how taught and solid Kelley’s arms and neck would be under her touch.

As she shakes herself out of the thought, she makes direct eye contact with the woman, and curses herself mentally knowing that she was not subtle in anyway with her overdrawn observation.

“I uh, I think I’m gonna go back to my room and call it a night guys,” she weakly declares, receiving Lindsey and Roses’ dismissal as she makes her way to the door. As she walks down the hallway, she hears the door click behind her, and padding of someone trying to catch up with her.

“Where do you think you’re going, goofy” Kelley pinches her arm, clinging to the younger defenders body. Emily tries to ignore the way her heartrate picks up as Kelley’s arms wrap around her waist, stumbling through her words as she feigns tiredness. Kelley sees through the lie, and obviously refuses to actually leave the girl alone, following her into the room and settling on the bed.

She pats the seat next to her, earning a skeptical look from Emily. “I’m not sure I can trust you, what are you going to do to me this time?”

Kelley’s smile blooms on her face, “what do you want me to do to you” she says, obviously flirting, admittedly startling the hell out of Emily.

Not wanting to back down, she eggs the woman on “you never said no to the massage earlier. I feel like that’s a fair price to pay for your heartless act,” she says lying face down next to Kelley’s seated frame.

The older woman hums next to her, gently tracing an aimless pattern on the blonde’s back. Without hesitation or any words, Kelley sits atop Emily’s lower back, splaying her hands more firmly across Emily’s shoulders. The blonde stifles a moan, pressing her face further into the bed to muffle the noise as her body reacts to the firm contact. Her body is overwhelmed, the contact and heat feels unescapable, her heartrate noticeably pounding in her ears, as well as in a very specific place she wished she could ignore.

Kelley’s hands slowly trace down Emily’s back, gentle enough that it makes her shiver. Pushing at the hem of girl’s t-shirt, Emily’s cheeks feel like they’re ablaze, understanding Kelley’s request. She subtly lifts her body enough, allowing Kelley to push the shirt up, exposing her lower back to the room and Kelley’s touch. The firm touch both soothes and excites her. After years of being on the national team, Emily has always refused to gawk or stare too long at anyone in the locker room. It takes no genius to know that Kelley is ripped, and the fleeting glances and subtle looks fill her mind as Kelley applies pressure right above the waistline of her shorts.

She grips the bedsheets as Kelley firmly presses into a knot on the right side of her shoulder. Her breathing falters and hitches as the sharp discomfort quickly turns to a release of tension. “You’re going to make me pass out,” she laughs as Kelley soothes the now very red and irritated area with gentle touches. The older woman continues her ministrations, effectively making Emily’s entire body feel like jelly by the time she’s done working on her upper torso. Without thinking about her reaction, she tightly grips the top of Kelley’s thigh that was placed near her side as the woman digs into the center of her back. Raising her hips to escape the pressure, she hears Kelley finally break her silence, gasping as Emily’s backside presses into her crotch. “Shit, I’m sorry Kelley,” she apologizes, embarrassed and far too turned on by the noise to notice the way Kelley has grabbed both of her wrists and pinned them to the bed. They both still, the only noise in the room is their breathing and the hum of the A/C unit.

Suddenly, Kelley rocks into Emily, pushing herself against the girl’s ass, and giggles as Emily groans at the contact. Before anymore teasing could ensue, Sam opens the door to the room, causing Emily to flip around and fix her shirt, effectively throwing Kelley’s body off of her and onto the carpeted floor.

With the sudden crash, Sam peeks into the room, noticing Kelley rubbing her arm as she gets off the ground. “You guys are so weird,” she says, and to Kelley and Emily’s aid, doesn’t notice their flushed faces and disheveled state.

Kelley gives the two girls a meek goodnight, slipping out of the room, with Sam giving Emily a sideways glance, unsure of what to make of the interaction. Emily turns off her lamp and settles into bed, covering her head with the thick duvet to block out anymore light. Her back and shoulders feel loose, and her core throbbing, revealing how incredibly turned on she had been the entire time. She’s conflicted, not knowing if Sam’s disruption was a blessing or a curse, but knows at this exact moment, she wants nothing more than to be alone.

Before dozing off, her phone buzzes next to her, smiling as she sees the text that comes in.

 **‘Miss’ Kelley O’Hara** : **Not a very nice tip you gave me for all my hard work. Rude.**

A picture follows, splaying Kelley’s arm and a purple bruise on her bicep. Her pouty face makes Emily smile, thinking it ironic that someone so agile on the field is so injury prone in everyday life.

 **Saucy Sonnett** : **Sorry, not sorry. Blame Sam, not me. I was more than content with your work.**

**‘Miss’ Kelley O’Hara: ‘Content’ huh? I’ll have to do better next time.**

Emily quickly steps out from her bed, startling Sam who is reading a book on her side of the room. Turning on the fan and shower in the bathroom, Emily’s mind is clouded with the thought of Kelley sitting on her back, feeling the imprint of the woman’s fit body on hers, shuddering as she shoves her shorts off. Stepping into the cold shower, she prays that she is quick and quiet. Her mind is flooded with the thought of Kelley, with the way Kelley’s hands felt so strong and exact, and the way Kelley gasped at the contact with her own body. Tipping her over the edge was the feeling of Kelley pushing back into her, disclosing that there was a deep and obvious sexual tension between them. Lost in the thoughts of what was happening just minutes ago, she’s efficient with her movements, rubbing quick and tight circles over her clit, holding tightly onto the rail of the shower, coming within minutes.

As she hops out and looks at the final texts from Kelley, wishing her a goodnight, she sees through the subtle dance they have been taking part in the past few days. Like a game of chess, one pushes while the other strategizes the next move, waiting to see who will break first. Unsure if it was her pride, competitive nature, or just desire to beat Kelley O’Hara, Emily wanted to be in control. Even if it was just an admission that Kelley thought Emily was hot, she wanted her name to come from Kelley’s mouth.

**Saucy Sonnett: I’ll kiss it better for you tomorrow, btw. Goodnight, Kelley.**


	4. Soft Touch

“You seem a little hot and bothered,” Ash casually quips at Sonnett “would you like to tell me if it’s because of the weather or if it’s because of a certain someone?”

Sonnett sighs, dowsing her face in water to avoid the teasing and Ash continues to eye her and Kelley up. No words need to be said by the younger defender for Ash to read through the dismissal.

All morning her nervous energy was palpable to anyone who was around, her shaking leg and twitching hands were just as distracting as her motor mouth, trying to make light of the situation, fooling no one.

Unlike a normal practice, her challenges were hard and a little uncalled for- making more contact with Tobin’s leg than the actual ball. The younger player was obviously pushing herself to exhaustion, and no one could deny that playing in the exact stadium your team blind-sided you for was a slight slap in the face. The fact that Tobin was getting the brunt of it was just sheer coincidence.

After getting an expected talking to from Vlatko after their session, Emily seethed in her seat on the bus, frustrated she wasn’t starting, and growing concerned with Kelley’s lack of attention. Not that it mattered. But it definitely did.

Starting off the tournament playing against England was no easy feat, with everyone knowing the team would be physical and up front, but without Lucy Bronze they had some slack. The bus buzzed with their anticipation and excitement, to no reprieve of Emily’s own shaky nerves.

“It’s a shame your wife couldn’t play against you tonight,” Kelley ribs Lindsey as the team moves into the lobby, not letting up on the blonde’s admission of her subtle crush.

“Ash could be your in. Tar Heels have some weird blood bond I think.” Kelley pauses, trying to find Christen’s eye in the crowd, “But you know what they say, it’s always better to come second- us Stanford girls know all about that.” Press, bashful as ever, pushes Kelley away as she wags her eyebrows, still affected by the brunettes obvious and dirty innuendos despite all the years of them being both friends and teammates. All the younger girls in the lobby roll their eyes, some even mock getting sick.

“You would think that someone who graduated from Stanford would know Lindsey already has Lucy’s number. You know, with you guys being smart and all,” Emily bluntly states, making no attempt to try and hide her smirk- clearly throwing Lindsey under the bus.

Mouths agape, and the room stunned that Lindsey had kept such crucial information from them, Emily takes the chance to head to her room and properly relax before the match. Almost as if on que, Ash and Ali follow behind her, using their combined forces of maternal compassion to ask about her current state.

“Honestly guys, I’m just tired. Practice was weird, I don’t know what it was, but I promise I’ll do more to protect everyone else’s shins next game,” her typical bubbly and goofy energy notably devoid.

“I’m sorry for teasing you so hard, my sweets” Ash says pinching her cheeks, “you do you, but remember me and mama Ali got your back, baby girl.”

Emily smirks at the cute pet names, admittedly enjoying the protective barrier the two wives offer her in this moment, but she pines for the comfort from another, far more unhinged, brunette.

The game goes on without a hitch…well minus the hair pulling and odd foul that never get called. Tobin got hit with most of it- Emily chiding in that her efforts during practice were obviously to prepare her for this game. Their 2-0 victory leaves them all quite pleased, and all but erases Emily’s sour mood from earlier.

The whirlwind traveling they do for this specific tournament means very little down time, and even less time for Emily to fester on her forlorn heart. Well, at least that’s what she convinces herself. Since their initial talk over coffee and playing in Emily’s new home stadium, Lindsey no longer feels weird joking about how lonely or bored she’ll be without the girl to annoy in Portland.

“Remember the first time me and you roomed together?” Lindsey casually brings up, neglecting Rose’s story and directing her quiet question to the blonde.

“Uh, not really. I vaguely remember being scared of you when I first walked in, but that ended pretty quickly, considering you had an actual teddy bear sticking out of your luggage.”

Lindsey mutters a soft ‘shut up’ before pushing Emily with her feet. “I don’t mean like what you remember thinking about me. I mean like what we talked about and what we did?”

Emily feels a tight knot form in her stomach and a cold panic shoot through her body, feeling oddly guilty and increasingly anxious for not being able to pick up on what Lindsey was suggesting. Instead of letting any of it show, she casually shrugs her shoulders, non-verbally encouraging Lindsey to get to her point.

“You flat out gushed over watching me play with PSG.” She says with a cheeky grin, “I think you even compared me to Abby at one point.” Emily scoffed, loosely remembering the conversation, but wondered what about this moment made Lindsey want to bring it up.

“Sometimes, when I watch you play, you really remind me of Kelley” the comment lingers in the air, everyone in the room now listening and nodding along with Lindsey’s claim. “Maybe it’s because you both are actually fucking insane,” Rose snorts loudly, and Emily rolls her eyes, second guessing why she would ever expect a genuine compliment to come from her friend’s mouth.

“No, but like really. You both just have this ‘I don’t give a fuck’ energy about you. It’s fun to watch. And that’s hard to say about defenders,” Lindsey tries to jokingly assert, but is met with a death glare from Becky and a foot in the face from Sonnett.

“You’re so lucky, Linds,” Emily suddenly gushes, her lively tone and animated face a stark contrast to the hostility her and Becky had just shown.

“Wha..what, why?” Her eyebrows pull together in confusion.

“You see, most people only have two feet, but it seems like you’ll have an extra right up your ass for next practice.”

The room erupts in laughter, causing Lindsey’s face to turn a shade of pink that almost matches her pre-wrap.

Although her mood has lifted significantly from the last game, Emily still feels like she’s just putting on an act- pulling out jokes and stories to avoid actually confronting anything beneath the surface. With this sudden feeling of normalcy between her and the girls in her room, she looks down at her phone and wills herself to be the first one to reach out to Kelley, throwing out the first activity that comes to her mind.

**Saucy Sonnett: Hey loser. Wanna have a movie night?**

Almost instantaneously she gets a response.

**‘Miss’ Kelley O’Hara: Idk. I’m pretty busy. Might be able squeeze you in between all my dates**

**‘Miss’ Kelley O’Hara: But only if there’s some incentive.**

Emily’s eyebrows quirk in confusion. She knows it’s their normal banter, but the comment strikes her as odd. She was pretty sure that Kelley and her girlfriend were still a thing. They rarely brought her up, because that’s just who Kelley was- loud and obnoxious with most things, but incredibly respectful of her family and partner’s privacy.

There had been a few remarks here and there that the two were bickering more, seeing each other less, and just generally not always being on the same page, but Emily knew better than to pry- for the sake of her own feelings, as well as Kelley’s. More often than not, Kelley went to Alex or Christen for relationship advice, but even those interactions got through the grapevine if they were worthy enough of gossip.

For sure, Emily would have thought some type of conversation would have been had, or at least a remark made, to indicate the relationship was done. As her thoughts spiraled, another text came through.

**‘Miss’ Kelley O’Hara: Should I bring any snacks…outside of myself, obvi**

**‘Miss’ Kelley O’Hara: You take too long to respond- I’ll be over in 10.**

**Saucy Sonnett: So quick to bail on your dates, huh?**

**Saucy Sonnett: And popcorn if you wish, my liege**

The other girls soon file out, extending an invitation to Emily as plans for dinner get arranged.

“There’s a cat café that we’re checking out, if you’re interested? Not really dinner, but I’ve always wanted to visit one,” Becky announced, spinning her key as she waited for Alyssa near their door.

“I would love pictures, but Kelley is supposed to come over soon. Let me know how it is, and maybe we can go tomorrow for breakfast?” Becky smiled and nodded at the arrangement.

Although almost opposites in every single way, Becky was one of the coolest players Sonnett has ever met. With Becky being a bookworm at heart, she didn’t think her and the senior defender would have much in common- but learning that she too graduated from UVA and was a giant coffee fanatic made them quick and easy friends. It was an added bonus that they shared the back line and could shit talk the strikers without fear of them ever hearing it.

Moments after Alyssa and Becky leave, Sonnett paced the room. Her nerves suddenly manifesting in a way that made her entire body jittery, despite her legs and arms begging for her to sit and relax. She’s sure if she stopped moving, the shakiness would be visible- and she honestly had no clue why, in this moment, her anxiety decides to make itself known.

The knock at the door is quiet, and the smile on Kelley’s is face soft as she opens it, making her stall as she takes note of the older player.

“Are you going to move, or are do I have to be invited in like a vampire?” The blonde stumbles out a response and quickly moves aside, watching the brunette walk in with her arms full of what seems to be shitty, sugary snacks, and a comically large bowl of popcorn.

“Is that your dinner? We could have gone out with the rest of the girls, dude. Promise I would be the best body guard if any of those dates saw you out and questioned it,” she suggestively raises her eyebrows.

“I ate with Tobs and Christen. I was sorta glad you texted me, they started passive aggressively arguing about their apartment and who’s name it should be signed under.” She settles on the bed, taking a spot closest to the wall.

“It was weird seeing them act like a normal couple.” Emily looks towards Kelley, expecting more of an explanation or some type of joke to cushion the observation, but nothing else comes with it. Instead Kelley messes with the cardboard of the candy box, keeping her eyes on the tv as Emily tried to decide on a movie.

“How has everything been going with you, Kel,” Emily boldly breaks the ice. Riding the wave of awkward silence she thinks any conversation at this point is better than nothing. She settles on a docuseries she knows neither of them will actually watch, hoping that Kelley gets the point.

She spreads out comfortably on her bed, watching as Kelley tries to formulate a response.

“It’s been…weird,” nervous Kelley is very unfamiliar to Emily, making it both endearing and entirely unsettling as Kelley plays with her rings after setting the candy and popcorn bowl in the empty space between them on the bed.

“I think me and my girlfriend broke up.” The statement almost takes Emily’s breath away- she isn’t sure if it’s Kelley’s timid voice, or the way that everything about her seems so unsure.

“Oh...what do you mean ‘you think’?” She feels like an ass as soon as the question comes out, and backpedals, apologizing for asking, desperately cursing herself for not knowing how to read the room.

“No, it’s fine. Very valid question,” Kelley attempts to fake a laugh, but even that falls short. “We were talking over the phone a few nights ago, and she just sort of suggested that we end it. She wasn’t mad, or even upset, really.” She pauses, and begins to play with her hair, combing through it in attempt to self sooth.

“It felt so casual and non-committal…if that’s even the correct word to use in this scenario. But do you know what I mean? We both just agreed that parts of it weren’t working, and that the logical solution would be to call it here.” Emily nods, sending her friend a soft ‘sorry’ and tapping the space next to her, wanting the girl to sit next to her.

“I, um- I think that she’s right,” her voice breaks softly, immensely pulling at Emily’s desire to hold her. “But it sucks- I used to love her, ya know? She just stopped fighting. And I’m not sure when it started, or if I was the cause of it, but I knew somewhere in the back of my head that is was going to happen… eventually,” the last sentence fades the longer she rambles on, and all Emily can think about is the phrase ‘used to love her.’

She wants to ask more, but knows that something this fresh isn’t easy to cope with and that every admission may not always be clear or true.

“Agh, you suck Em,” Kelley laughs as she runs her hands across her face, clearly a little overwhelmed. “So…long story short. We’re like 99 percent broken up, we just need to actually see each other to finalize it? Oh my god, that sounds awful.” Kelley’s body language tells Sonnett she is uncomfortable, but her demeanor and voice lead her to believe that Kelley was still in control of her emotions.

Kelley finally scoots forward and settles against the frame of the bed near the blonde as their direction turns to the tv, pulling the candy close to her and shoving the popcorn bowl in Emily’s lap. “I brought Reese’s and Twix- the superior candy. If you don’t like it, I will gladly eat your portion,” she states so matter of factly Emily can’t resist laughing.

They pick at the snacks, Emily joking that Dawn’s heart is breaking as they consume treats that typically are reserved for their cheat days, and cheat days only, when they were working under her strict diet guidelines.

“You literally are like the world’s largest three old,” Emily blurts out, watching as Kelley bites into the Twix and lets the caramel smear itself along her chin.

“Snack for later,” the brunette says, clearly amused by Emily’s disgust. The blonde rolls her eyes and reaches into the popcorn bowl. As they settle in and pay attention to the documentary on the screen, Emily receives a text from Becky- just as promised, she sends pictures of the coffee shop with a complimentary selfie featuring a particularly fluffy grey cat cuddled up in her lap. The blonde shows Kelley, leaning over to remove any space between them, watching Kelley’s reaction as she scrolls through.

“You have chocolate everywhere, Kel,” she notes, still watching the girl’s reaction, scoping the smudge of chocolate on the side of her mouth. Out of instinct, she reaches up and uses her thumb to rid the defender of the sugary blemish. Before being able to pull away, Kelley grabs the girls hand, and brings the finger to her lip, sucking at it, calmly stating “I told you, a snack for later” as she pulls back.

All of the air seemed to be sucked out of the room; Kelley’s devilish grin remains on her face, sustaining the unwavering eye contact as Emily feels every part of her face flush. “So gross,” she whispers under her breath, trying to act like she isn’t imprinting the memory of Kelley’s tongue on her finger into the back of her brain. The brunette shrugs her shoulder and releases her grip on Sonnett’s finger.

“How’s the bruise by the way,” Sonnett asks, eyeing the purple mark on the girls arm as they settle back into their separate spaces on the bed.

“Fine- you’re still a jerk for throwing me across the room though.” She pushes the cuff of her t-shirt up to fully show it, running her own hand over it to test its sensitivity. “But like Ash said last week- definitely good for getting the babes.”

Emily scoffs and rolls her eyes before deciding to test her own limits. “Gimme,” she mumbles, pushing the popcorn bowl aside, pulling Kelley in by her arm. Quickly pressing her lips to the exposed bruise, she notes how soft the skin of Kelley’s arm is in comparison to the definite muscle underneath it- her lips pull into a smile when she sees small freckles running all up and down the woman’s arm, only highlighted even more by her wonky tan line. When she pulls back, Kelley’s journey from confused to accepting is entirely on display with her lack of poker face.

“Like, no joke- kissing helps heal certain wounds and injuries.” Emily blurts out, her soft smile quickly turning into a face full of guilt and embarrassment.

“I wasn’t joking when I said that to Christen the other day. Some doctors say it’s a placebo type thing- because kids just want attention and so when someone kisses it better, it helps them psychologically, but there are some studies that show the saliva helps promote faster cell generation” her explanation rambles on, done in such a way that just listening to it makes Kelley breathless.

“Oh my god, you’re such a dork,” she cuts the girl off. She leans into her shoulder, pushing their bodies together as they sit thigh to thigh, arm to arm.

Her tone shifts, softer and quieter than Emily’s earlier ramblings, “Thank you. Doesn’t make up for you throwing me, but psychologically- feeling pretty okay right now.” The smirk on her face makes Emily want to smack her- but she knows that anymore physical contact with Kelley’s body would probably make her implode.

“My mama taught me this,” Kelley says suddenly, separating their torsos and turning towards the blonde. “Close your eyes, just real quick.”

‘You’re so weird,’ Emily tries to quietly judge Kelley, but is met with a quick pinch before she closes her eyes, unsure and hesitant as to what was about to happen. “She told me that when people are anxious, the best way to help them calm down is to model what they need.”

Emily huffs out a breath from her nose, not finding any of this funny or necessary. “And why do I need to calm down? I’m fine…”

“Dude, for the past three days you’ve literally been a ball of anxiety- everyone can feel it. Shut up and just let me do this.”

Kelley finally gets up, Emily feeling the bed shift under her as the brunette decides to sit directly in front of her, in between her outstretched legs. Her eyes remain closed, turning her focus on her breathing and the quiet commentary of the tv as she awaits Kelley’s instructions.

“Okay, so when I’m a little stressy or messy, I like to distract myself with shitty food and a really good massage.” Emily nods, now understanding Kelley, was in part, coping with her own stress and using this as a moment to decompress, too.

“Am I allowed to touch you?” The question makes Sonnett’s ears burn red, choosing to stifle the feeling that makes her stomach flip. “Only if you don’t hurt me,” she mocks, opening her eyes briefly to nod an okay.

Kelley slowly runs her arms up and down the blonde’s own, squeezing and releasing pressure as she makes her way up to her shoulders. “You can breathe, I promise this isn’t a prank or anything stupid, honestly.”

Emily takes a deep breath and sighs, “I wasn’t thinking it was, but now I’m concerned.” Kelley ‘tsk’s her, but continues the motion, helping both of them relax the longer it continues. Working her way up Sonnett’s shoulder, she begins to lean into the younger girl’s personal space, taking note of the girl’s laugh lines and dimples, and smirks as she’s spots some chocolate on the side of her mouth as well.

She pulls her body closer to Sonnett’s, basically sitting in the girls lap as she reaches behind her, rubbing soothing and haphazard patterns across her back. Emily’s own arms come up, with no real thought as it happens, until suddenly she feels herself mimicking Kelley’s touch.

“You’re very bad a listening to directions,” Kelley’s words are muffled, with her face almost entirely resting on Emily’s shoulder. Sonnett lazily hums, too relaxed to recognize the teasing words of the girl all but sitting in her lap.

What doesn’t escape her attention is the sharp intake of breath Kelley sucks in as her hands find the hem of her shirt- her fingers accidently making contact with the skin of brunette’s lower back.

A long and languid movement of her hand from Kelley’s lower back to just below her bra causes the older woman to still and faintly shudder. The soft pads of Emily’s fingers are slowly replaced by the dull edges of her nails, placing a firmer pressure along the outside of the older player’s ribs. With her nose now wedged between where Emily’s shoulder and neck meet, the blonde can feel every breath and subtle hitch in Kelley’s throat. Her own body, which just minutes ago was closer to drifting to sleep, is now buzzing with energy, almost feeling electric.

Every contact point between their bodies feels like its sending a direct pulse to her core- Kelley’s now labored breathing making it even harder to ignore the way her body wishes to push forward and relieve the pressure building in her lower abdomen. Her mind runs rampant, thinking about pushing Kelley as close to her as possible, forcing the girl to fully sit on her lap- using her hands to tightly grip the woman’s ass to move her along her front to get the friction she desired.

She’s ripped out of her dirty thoughts when a soft whine escapes Kelley’s mouth. Her body feeling like it’s about to burst into flames when she feels Kelley’s back arch into her front, trying to escape her now ticklish touch. At this point, the woman’s arms are draped over Sonnett’s shoulders, no longer even feigning an attempt to keep this up the act that this was a mutual effort.

She has a decision to make- either continue the teasing, keeping up the maddeningly slow pace, or end it now to save her sanity. She chooses the latter option when another less reserved whine escapes Kelley’s lips- forcing a laugh from her own body.

“Who would’ve thought Miss Kelley was so ticklish? After all these years of p.t and massage therapy I thought you would’ve built up a tolerance for this,” she says accompanied with a shit eating grin as Kelley removes herself from her lap, laying her head on the opposite end of the bed.

Kelley quickly flicks her off and adjusts her shirt, Sonnett shamelessly observing the whole act. “If you tell anyone on the team that I’m ticklish, I swear to god I will end you.”

“Consider it future ammunition- evidently anything is fair game now that we’ve started digging up people’s crushes.”

Her comment earns her a death glare, and their hangout reverts back to less emotional and far less physical means of bonding. She still wasn’t able to gauge Kelley’s reaction yet, but knew that whatever was building between them was a hidden and discreet topic, both between them as well as the rest of the team- even if they all suspected something anyway. With the night carrying on, Sonnett lets it slip that her and Becky were going to the café in the morning- Kelley completely misreads the comment though and invites herself. Before she has time to clarify, Becky is back in the room, signaling that the night was over, and Kelley unintentionally being grouped into their venture for the next morning.

Sonnett kicks herself as she tries to sleep that night, now feeling stuck after learning of Kelley’s recently ended relationship, but also acutely aware of the fact that whatever professional relationship they have could be in question if she pondered what they were any further.

“Sonnett, if you don’t stop thinking so loud, I’m going to make you sleep in the tub,” Becky mumbles across the room, half asleep. With the fear of god instilled in her after briefly believing Becky could hear what she was thinking, she forces her mind and body to shut off- praying that whatever this relationship was, didn’t kill her in the process.


	5. Twenty One Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a (very long) minute. I didn't know how well this was going to do as a series, and honestly was a little shocked that people are still reading and anticipating chapters lol. The comments and support is a very nice and refreshing surprise, so thank you for any one who is reading this and has went out of their way to give a kind word or kudos. I love one-shots, but only the kind that are like mini-novellas by themselves, so as expected, it too is a work in progress. Thank you and stay safe. Oh, also BLM and wear your mask.

“Wakey, wakey, time for some fake eggs and bakey.” Sonnett groans hearing the shrill singing of a very lively Kelley. Somehow, she’s not surprised that Kelley has made it into her room, and is even less surprised that Becky is letting her interfere with her beauty sleep. 

“C’mon Son,” the blonde feels the bed dip to her side, keeping her head under the pillow as Kelley sits on its edge. 

“Why does Sonny deserve a song, and all I get are three very rapid texts and two phone calls,” Becky questions as she finishes drying out her hair. “Better yet…riddle me this Kel, how did you even get roped into this? This was supposed to be a crucial roommate bonding experience.” 

Kelley snorts, knowing that Becky would never pass up an opportunity to mock Sonnett’s extreme admiration for her. “Two legends, one rookie…sounds like a match made in heaven to me.”

“Or a very bad porno,” Emily quickly rebuttals, finding enough energy to throw herself out of the bed to quickly grab her shower caddy and change of clothes. Upon her return, and despite the prominent bags beneath her eyes, she knows she’s in for an eventful morning with Kelley’s bright attitude. 

Clearly, the shower wasn’t enough. She only vaguely remembers getting into the Uber, and remembers even less of the ride there until Becky catches her attention. At some point, she recognizes that the two are mocking her as she dozes off in the car, and tries to keep consciousness out of spite…even if they think she’s sleeping. They talk very little, but part of Sonnett’s brain remembers Kelley telling Becky that the breakup was official and that she was ‘doing better than expected.’ Becky says something that was indiscernible to Sonnett’s ears, but she can hear the teasing tone behind it, and more clearly hears Kelley quickly hushing her.

“It’s everything I imagined,” she sleepily directs towards Becky after they enter the shop, noticing that this fits Becky in every way. Although overwhelmed with how cute and pleasant the scenery was, she was surprised by Kelley’s reaction. Almost immediately as they walked in, the brunette cooed and awed at any cat that curled around her legs or let her willingly pet them, using the most obnoxious baby voice she has ever heard. Sonnett’s never been around Kelley and a baby, but she would like to imagine it would be a very similar scene. Something about that image makes her heart swell. 

After rounding up their order, she made her way to the women who were entranced by a large, fluffy cat sitting near the shops main window. The loveseat they sat on was comfy, but meant that all three of them had to sit rather tightly together. She was growing tired of Kelley’s seemingly tactile decision to always leave just enough room for her to fit. It also didn’t escape Kelley that Sonnett had included nicknames on the side of their cups, hers reading ‘Miss Kelley,’ and Becky’s reading ‘Broony.’ 

“So, got any plans for the off season, Son?” Becky questions as they all get settled.

“Eh, probably just a lot of conditioning to get used to Orlando’s heat and humidity. I’m not planning to move until the preseason schedule is announced, I’m super tired of commuting back and forth and just got all my stuff moved back to my parents.”

“Lindsey was telling me. She also said something about a girl. Bailey? The trainer. How’s all that working?”

Emily immediately felt flush, like a school girl having her crush announced to the class. She stuttered out a response, hoping she could play it cool. “Um, yeah. I’ve asked her for some tips on how to get adjusted to humidity and heat with training. I also ended up giving her custody of my plant babies, so ya know, leaving a lot behind.” She forces a laugh, and notices Kelley raised eyebrows, which she chooses to play off as she gets distracted by cat who was playing with her shoelace.

“I also ended up having her take care of Bagel for a bit, until my parents and Emma could make their way out there and help drive everything back. She’s staying in my apartment to make sure everything stays in order until the lease is up.” 

Becky, the wise and quiet woman she is, was making Emily sweat bullets. She was a little shocked that Lindsey would have told Becky anything about Bailey, and now heavily regrets ever saying anything about the blonde’s crush on Lucy Bronze. She figured this was payback.

“That’s so sweet of her. I’ll have to make sure she’s a good plant mother once I get back out there. But what about you two, how are you gonna work through the trade? Long distance is hard, but I mean, I’m sure you guys are sort of use to it.”

The blonde chokes on her coffee, noticing that Kelley is now solely focused on her. 

“Oh, um, me and Bailey aren’t together. Well…we dated for a little here and there, but we aren’t seeing each other. She’s super cool and all, but with the team and everything we didn’t want to make it weird. Not saying she’s weird, but ya know, gotta stay professional.”

Becky snorted, and Kelley gives her the infamous O’Hara smirk. “Coffee really starting to kick in, huh Son?” She mutters a shut up under her breath, and is relieved that Becky announces with a sudden urgency that she needed food, promptly followed by her stomach growling. 

“So…I never knew about you and Bailey,” Kelley finally positions herself to face the blonde, their legs touching, and Kelley’s arm thrown over the backside of the couch.

Emily shrugs, “It wasn’t really worth talking about.” Kelley looks surprised, and pulls a face that makes her feel like a dick for brushing it off. Smooth…very smooth, she thinks.

“She’s honestly great. It was about a year ago the last time we went on a ‘date’ date.” She pauses to contemplate how to explain the relationship, “we still hang out after training and when the group gets together, but with me being gone so much it was hard to ever get into a routine.”

Emily finally looks up, noticing Kelley petting the cat in the window of the shop. The light hitting her hair turned it into a beautiful caramel color, and seeing her freckles and soft smile makes her stomach flip- something she thought only happened in cheesy romance novels. She hates the constant state of awkwardness she’s lived in since she realized this crush was a legitimate thing, and at this point feels like Kelley is taunting her; no one rolls out of bed during camp at 6 in the morning, looking that good, just to get some coffee, all before a full day of practice. 

“What is a ‘date’ date? Your generation’s lingo fails me,” she can tell Kelley is trying to pull her leg, but finds it interesting that that’s the question on her mind. 

“Mm, I don’t know. For us, we stopped by some of the nicer restaurants and walked around the national parks a few times. It was relaxing though, I didn’t really ever have to explain the weird and picky dietary things. She also didn’t mind just staying in and binge watching shows.” She ceaselessly fiddled with her rings and the sleeve of the coffee cup, as if her nervous movement would distract Kelley from asking anymore questions.

“Are you still interested in her?” She tries to keep her face still and not give anything away, but knows that she has very little control of the way the blood rushes to her ears. She gives a seldom shake of her head, and hopes that her body language expresses her discomfort with the topic. 

“I’m sorry Son, I’m not trying to be a gossip. This is the first time I think I’ve ever really heard about your dating life. You probably think I’m a pyscho with all the shit I tell you.”

She chuckles at that, in a type of way that let’s Kelley know she supported her, even when it did get tense or confusing. There would be nights where Allie, Alex, and herself would all be in the room as Kelley packed and unpacked her luggage two or three times as she argued on the phone with her now ex-girlfriend, all just to look at them and say “honestly, this time wasn’t even that bad,” after they had come to some sort of ultimatum that still meant Kelley would be disrupting her normal travel plans to accommodate her girlfriend.

Her fiddling with the sleeve of the coffee cup continues, but this time just because the peeling cardboard was annoying her. “I honestly don’t think so, no. Like I said, it’s been a while, and I think I’m doing alright emotionally. Sometimes it sucks just being alone on holidays or extended breaks when all of you guys get busy, so it makes me rethink. But it’s not really her that I miss, just the idea of it.”

The younger defender hopes she doesn’t come across as an insensitive asshole that used Bailey, but she wanted to be blunt with Kelley, just like how the older defender is with her. “That’s very…mature of you, Sonny.” Sonnett quirks her eyebrow, not really sure how her dismissing her ex was at all mature, but their conversation is cut short with Becky returns with a few wraps and fruit for them. 

As they are heading out the door, Kelley’s firm grasp around her waist, and nose pressed against her ear sends a shock to her system. She can all but hear the shit eating grin plastered on Kelley’s face, and prays that Kelley isn’t piecing together her attraction, no matter how obvious it may feel to her. “I want to talk later, squirt. Don’t fuck up my shins or ankles during practice today like you did Tobin, otherwise I’ll make sure to bench you for the rest of the game too.”

Sonnett gives her a subtle, albeit nervous, thumbs up in response as Becky wraps up her short recap of their defensive plan against Spain as they wait for their ride back.

After practice, the younger girls decide on having a self-care day, feeling slightly gassed over the quick turnaround for the tournament. The choice of group bonding activity is just kind of an excuse for them to wear sweats and t-shirts and order in rather than exert any effort to look presentable to the public. Lindsey beams when she realizes she can make use of her weird sheer metallic looking mask, and makes Kelley scream and nearly drop her phone when she comes back into the room. Rose snickers at the video when she sees it on Instagram and pulls Sonnett aside to show her as they finish up rationing out the rest of the masks to everyone else.

“Please tell me Lindsey, Kelley, and you aren’t going to be the new us,” despite the methodical motions of Rose putting on the green mask, her stern tone and unwavering gaze reveal that she is harboring some actual concern.

“Why…or how would that even happen? Isn’t she already part of this group? I thought this was established,” she pauses as Rose hands her the rest of the mask. She tries to laugh it off, but can feel the dissonance as the other girl’s face remains unchanged- which she is unsure of as it might just be the facemask’s work, or her trying to be serious.

“I feel like the middle child that’s getting left behind,” the smaller girl states, and abruptly leaves the bathroom to return to Lynn and Sam.

Now, not only is Sonnett stuck in a very internal and warring debate in her own head about the direction to take with Kelley, but is also strung out over giving her attention to people that aren’t said crush. She thought she had been doing a good job involving herself in the group activities, and even went out of her way to make coffee runs with the girl’s, even when her caffeine consumption levels began to reach concerning levels. 

“I told Kelley about Bailey today,” the blonde says, settling in next to Rose on the bed, which in her mind was inadvertently confronting the issue head on. The masks do no favors in giving Sonnett any clue about how Rose interpreted the statement, so she continues, “I know I don’t talk about relationships, or dates, or crushes, or anything like that really. But Lindsey had told Becky how Bailey and me were a thing, and well…made it sound like we still were seeing each other. Which we aren’t. But I wanted to let you know that me and hot trainer Bailey once we’re a ‘thing’,” she emphasizes with air quotes, “and I feel like if I’m honest with Kel, you deserve it too, that way your middle child syndrome is just a fake symptom which cannot be used to target me…you jerk.” 

Rose crosses her arms, and Sam and Lynn are clearly piqued by the conversation, but await for the smaller girl to respond. In spite of her small stature, Rose had the capability of controlling an entire room with a with a simple look and pose. “You really are the middle child- bratty and stubborn,” Sonnett finally interjects after a long silence, squeezing the girl’s arm to make her drop the act. Finally breaking, she pouts, “you still should have told me first…not fair that Becky got to know before me.” They both roll their eyes at each other, and a sense of relief is felt by the blonde, particularly knowing that there is more to her statement than she is questioned on, which makes her feel like at least her crush isn’t as apparent as she was thinking. 

Their night goes on without a hitch, minus the slight error Lindsey made when applying her mask, causing her to nearly have a panic attack when she realizes the safety and security of her eyebrows were in question. “I swear to god if I lose my eyebrows I am going to murder one of you.” 

“How is it our fault?” Kelley screams, “you’re the one that chose to look like the tinman from the Wizard of Oz. If you read the box you would know it wasn’t supposed to touch any of hair…almost as if reading the label is fundamental, miss PSG.” The death glare speaks volumes, raising enough concern for Sam and Lynn to help the other blonde remove the mask.

“So…hot trainer Bailey, huh” Rose randomly throws out amid their conversation, disrupting Emily’s daily Bagel update with her sister. Instantaneously she ends the call with her, and throws her hands up at Rose. “Did we not talk about this earlier?”

“No need to get so hostile, all of us talk about relationships during girl’s nights, and I want to know what the girls have to say.” As the three return from bathroom, successful with the endeavor in saving Lindsey’s eyebrows, Emily curses this damn trade…now not only is she separated from her best friend, she also is having all her business aired out amongst them.

“Can we stop calling her hot trainer Bailey? Not sure how well that’s gonna go over if Vlatko or the staff hears.” Lindsey’s laugh only accentuates Sonnett’s growing aggravation, “is this revenge or something for the Lucy Bronze situation? I promise I won’t ever bring her up again,” the blonde pleads. 

“It’s cute seeing you flustered. Hot trainer Bailey or not, this is the most I think we’ve seen you blush.” Kelley’s comment only fuels her embarrassment, and at this point, an earth quake or sudden fire seem like the only way she’ll escape this conversation. 

“Tell you guys what. I’ll answer one question each, then for the rest of eternity, the phrase ‘hot trainer Bailey’ cannot be directed toward me ever again. Fair? Fair,” the girls eagerly nod their heads, making it laughable with how childlike a room of 20 and 30 year olds can be. 

Rose starts, eagerly cutting Lindsey off. “On a scale of one to ten, how good of a kisser was she?” 

“Jesus Christ, it’s like high school all over again.” No one in the room laughs, patiently waiting for her response “I don’t know. A solid 7? I swear to god, don’t ever repeat this to anyone outside of this room.”

“Why a 7?” Sammy interjects, instantly regretting her choice of question, “truthfully, it seems like the only sane number to give to someone I kissed at least a year ago. Anything higher would seem a little desperate, and anything lower would seem cocky on my part. Boom, next question.” 

“Be honest. Did you guys ever sext?” Out of everyone in the room, Emily least expected Lynn to ask this. “Hard no. Next.”

“That has to be a dead lie, Son. I remember the photo you took a couple weeks ago. You have some practice posing. Don’t lie.” 

“A tasteful photo and a nude are two very different things my sweet, sweet, baby Rose.” 

Now it’s only Lindsey and Kelley. “When was the first-time you guys kissed?” 

“It amazes me that a room full of women is openly objectifying the best trainer in the league.” 

‘Don’t avoid the question,’ gets thrown out by Lindsey as Emily rants on about how uninformative and unrevealing these questions are. “Fine. After our second date.”

“C’mon,” the room is obviously disgruntled with the flat story. “There is no winning with you people. It was after the home opener last season. We ordered a huge pizza, watched a very boring rom-com, and when she went home I gave her a smooch. Is that a thorough enough explanation for you perverts?” Her faux confidence and grace answering the question is instantly shattered when she sees Kelley staring her down from the chair in the corner of the room. 

“Did you love her?” Right for the jugular. And no way to evade the sinking feeling in her stomach. Someone shouts, ‘ooh good one, Kel,’ but Sonnett meets Lindsey’s eyes and knows that something is beginning to crack.

“She’s a really good person. And an even better friend. Best trainer, really,” she reverts to her empty compliments, feeling like there’s enough of an implication with her evasive answer. Her once cocky tone is stripped, and she feels like she got caught with her pants down. 

“Great game of 21 questions. Let’s never do this again,” she quickly stands up and stretches, feeling the beginning stages of a panic attack starting to bud in her chest. “I think I’m going to go sit in the hot tub before it closes. Feel free to continue the hot gossip in my absence, but I think I’m good for the rest of the night.” Both Kelley and Lindsey’s eyes track her, but luckily neither make a move to follow her. 

After dealing with anxiety and panic attacks for years she has learned that drinking freezing cold water while being submerged in scalding hot water is one of the most immediate ways to shock herself back into reality. She felt blessed that Becky wasn’t in the room when she all but tore up her suitcase to find her bathing suit, and felt even more relief that not a single soul was in the pool area. 

As she settled herself into the water, the tingling sensation in her fingers and toes subsided, and her thoughts of eminent stress slow down. Leave it to Kelley to utterly unravel her in one question. 

As she cycles down and thinks about how long-going this ‘crush’ has been on Kelley, she fails to hear the padding of flip flops emerging, and nearly has a heart attack when Kelley’s form enters the tub. 

“Hey, Em.”

“Hi, Kel.” They sit in relative silence as Kelley adjusts to the water, moving around the tub to find an adequate seat. Not surprisingly, she sits entirely in Emily’s personal space. 

“You’re sort of in my bubble. Not so sure it’s the safest thing to do with what they’ve been saying about this COVID stuff, Miss Kelley.”

“I can move if you’d like. I just…” and for the first time, Emily realizes everything between them is intentional. The tapered silence, small smiles, and timid tone finally gives in to the idea that maybe Kelley is willing to risk something for her.

“Can we play our own game of twenty questions? Yes or no answers, no explanation required, promise.” Kelley asks with no hint of teasing or antagonism in her voice. She simply waits for the girl to respond, her smug smile never leaving her face.

She mumbles a sheepish sure, yet again feeling bamboozled by Kelley’s allusiveness.

“Cool. I’ll start.” Kelley puts up a finger to keep track of her questions, “do you enjoy scary movies?” Emily is thoroughly confused, but says ‘no’. “Okay, now your turn,” Kelley eagerly prompts her. 

“Do you like scary movies?” Kelley shakes her head yes, “this is going to be a very boring game if you repeat my questions,” she says rolling her eyes.

“Then don’t ask such lame questions…I don’t even know why we’re doing this. You literally know everything about me, Kel.”

“Fine…screw the yes or no rule. What’s your body count?”

“Jesus.” Admittedly, Sonnett was intentionally lucrative about her sex life. Growing up and being put in Christian school made this part of her identity very complicated. The shame, guilt, and foreignness of living as her true self was hard to shed after being enshrouded with religious conditioning on a daily basis. Her first crushes were suppressed, her memories of forced dates with guys in high school taint her teenage years.

Her first boyfriend was a charade, or that’s what it felt like at the time. Her first time with him was gentle, well thought out, but entirely devoid of feelings, at least on her end. His scruffy facial hair, even after shaving, still makes her cringe. His rough hands and baritone voice were supposed to be things that made him all that more appealing. Instead, it made her turn more towards soccer and friendship. No matter how hard she pushed herself to open up to him, whether physically or emotionally, she couldn’t.

Her first real relationship with a girl was hidden, guised as them being best friends and extremely supportive teammates as she made her way through college. Their coded study sessions and ‘teammate’ bonding nights lasted almost all four years of their college lives, only to be blown up when the girl’s mother walked in on the two sleeping in the same bed before their last game. Her first love. Her first heartbreak. Only Lindsey knew about this, and was the only one that could connect the dots that everything about Kelley matches the descriptions of the girl Emily was once head over heels for. 

“Two people. What’s yours?” She tries to gauge the woman’s reaction, but there is none.

Kelley responds back, “I think seven. Who was the better lay, out of the two?” Slowly, and deliberately done, she drops a hand on Sonnett’s thigh. 

“The second. Out of the seven, who was the best kisser?” She can feel Kelley laugh, the puff of air hitting her neck, making her wish that she wasn’t such a pushover for letting Kelley always get her way with her. 

“Mmm. Number seven for sure. Number one and two were arguably the worst kissers on this planet. I hope improvement has been made for the sake of their partners.” Sonnett laughs, knowing that the first two people Kelley dated were guys, who still remain close friends of hers.

“What’s the craziest sex story you have?” Kelley’s hand moves closer to the inside of Sonnett’s thigh. She sighs, and her eyes flutter shut without her thinking.

“Kelley.” She tries to warn her, but instead it sounds like a whine. “Just play the game.” The fingers gripping her thigh loosen, and now leave soft, almost ticklish, touches. 

“I once tried to have phone sex, but I was so awkward she started to laugh halfway through.” Sonnett looks at her, trying to not show how hard she was gritting her teeth as the dull edges of Kelley’s nails dug into the soft spot of her thigh. 

Kelley continues when she realizes Sonnett wants her own response to the question. “I once rented a popup camper van for a vacation. It was the type where you could roll up the top to make a loft above the normal seating area. Long story short, I didn’t realize the outside net for the screens were down, and in the middle of…ya know, what we were doing, I look over and there was a giant raccoon crawling up the side of the camper.”

Sonnett chuckles, but her attention wanes with Kelley’s continued pressure. Her hand remains in the same spot, but the variation of her touches is driving her mad. She blurts out the question on the forefront of her mind, “Why are you obsessed with touching my legs?” She finally takes hold of Kelley’s hand to still her motions, pushing it away, more towards her knee. 

“Because of this. Your exact reaction.” Her smile is blinding, and the lack of space between them makes Sonnett wish Kelley could read her mind. “I can stop. Let’s keep playing though, I like hearing about this side of you.” She finally removes her hand. It feels like Sonnett can breathe again.

“My turn. How come you aren’t obsessed with my legs?” Kelley quirks her eyebrows, trying to trap Emily into complimenting her. The blonde sees through it but feeds into the older woman’s ego anyway.

“I think your abs are more noteworthy than your fucked-up ankles and scarred knees. But I can fawn over them right now if that makes you feel any better.” For once, she sounds like herself again around Kelley. Flirting, rough, but honest.

“Yeah. Do that. It can be our secret. Now ask me a question before they kick us out. You’re horrible at this game.”

“You make fun of our generation for liking to be choked out, but look at you. A whole leg fetish that you’ve kept hidden. I’m learning so many things about you, Miss Kelley” She gingerly places her own hand on Kelley’s thigh, in a much more platonic and PG way than Kelley had, which highly contradicts her next question. “When was the last time you had sex?”

“Wow,” it’s Kelley’s turn to blush this time. “I think two weeks ago. Or whenever the last time I was in D.C. So maybe a month ago? Clearly not too memorable.” Sonnett feels like the answer is a major dig at her ex, but doesn’t want to go down that path.

“And you?” Placing her hand on top of Sonnett’s, she drags it up higher on her own thigh. Emily instinctively grips a little harder at the contact, Kelley takes a sharp breath in. 

“A while ago. Like so long, I’m embarrassed to say. So, let’s just leave it at that.” 

“When’s the last time you came?” Emily forgets about the game when Kelley asks the question.

“Kel…c’mon.” She looks over and sees how dark Kelley’s eyes have gotten. Her breathing seems shallow as she slowly entangles their fingers together.

“Just amuse me. Me and Alex joke all the time that Ash is literally the horniest person on the team. Who knows, maybe you’re a wildcard.”

Emily wrinkles her face in disgust with that information. “I don’t know. A few days ago when the tournament started.” She pauses and feels like her face has to look as red as it can possibly get. Her voice was small, and meant that Kelley had to lean in to hear the shy admission.

She takes the chance to place her face into the crook of Kelley’s neck, hiding herself in embarrassment, and feels the woman wrap an arm around her. “You talk now. I’m tired of talking.”

It feels different when Kelley laughs this time, Sonnett able to hear how it resonates deep in Kelley’s chest, feeling the vibration of it against her face.

“That’s a first,” she jokes, finally giving up on the questions. “Well. On a serious note, I’ll be going back to Georgia once the tournament is over and I grab my things from D.C,” tracing the bicep of Sonnett’s arm, the blonde hears how Kelley’s own pulse quickens.

“We should train. Maybe try and camp like we always say we’re going to. I know we’ll be on break longer than usual with the virus going around, but I think that gives me more than enough time to prove to you I can beat your ass any time or any day of the week.”

“Mhm, sure, Kel,” the blonde retorts, almost sleeping as she’s lulled by the slow movements of Kelley’s hand on her arm. She’s not sure how she makes it upstairs once they make it out of the pool, but falls asleep feeling cleansed of some of her deepest secrets. She might not have told Kelley about her feelings, but exposing the raunchy side of herself makes it feel more tangible than it has ever before.


	6. A Little Bit of Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A dozy of a chapter...prepare yourselves. I think you'll like it (hopefully).

The next few months are a blur. An extreme understatement. High expectations that the virus would miss the U.S were quickly shattered when record cases peaked around the nation. Emily returned home after the tournament, prepared for the announced Challenge cup after finally making her move to Orlando, and yet again was destroyed by the announcement that they would have to pull out altogether. Of course their team was the only one in the league to come back with positive cases just days before they were to ship out.

A month later, as the Challenge cup winded down, Sonnett yet again returned home to Georgia, and for once, anticipated the influx of phone calls from her friends as they too returned from the bubble.

Kelley was the first to leave the cup, officially COVID free after their required 7-day waiting period. It honestly felt like the last conversation they had was in a completely different timeline. Yet the memory of that night was seared into her brain.

“I can’t believe it’s been almost 4 months, Kel. Maybe the camping trip really is cursed.” She hears the brunette’s throaty laugh and beams at the idea of being able to make her do that again in person.

The gritty facetime call was enough to fulfil some of Emily’s desire to check in on Kelley, noticing she was a little thinner and tanner than before. She could see the deep bags set underneath the woman’s eyes and hoped it was from traveling and her team’s loss, and not any lingering stress about her break up.

“Maybe you’re the bad luck omen. Honestly Sonny, seems a little suspicious that as soon as you get to Orlando, the entire team collapses on itself.” Sonnett just flicks her off in response, too wrapped up in Kelley’s looks to make a witty remark.

“But no, I actually call bearing good news. My parents gave me the greenlight to go out to our lake house and use the camper. I know that sounds counterproductive, but there’s a lake on the property that my dad and brother rigged to sort of work as a camping area. We might as well use it. No one has been out there for months. Plus, it gives you an out in case the outdoorsy life isn’t for you.”

Emily isn’t surprised in the slightest that the O’Hara family would have a lake house, and of course during their free time they have enough smarts to rig a camping station just for the heck of it. “Oh, well. Can’t pass up an offer like that. Only one hard rule, Kel.”

She can hear the wheels turning in Kelley’s brain as she tries to anticipate what Emily says next, “no way in hell am I eating vegan bacon and eggs.” She hears Kelley groan over the phone, tired of being the butt of the joke for her odd dietary preferences.

Emily thanks the gods that Kelley is as structured and orderly as they come. Before the end of their call, she has a full list of equipment, clothes, and foods to bring, as if they’ll be living off the land for a month and not just staying in the backyard of Kelley’s cabin.

\---

 **Linessi** : Sup, Sonnshine. Me and Fergy miss you.

 **Desani** : 1- please never use that nickname again, and 2- I miss you both very much, even if Fergy only knows me through your laptop screen.

 **Linessi** : Shut up, I know you like it.  
**Linessi** : Visit me. Like now. I’m tired of seeing the same three people every day.

Even through the text, she can tell Lindsey is pouting.

 **Desani** : I wish. You should’ve kicked Merritt in the shins when you were sitting by him in the stands last week.

 **Linessi** : I would’ve if it meant I wouldn’t lose my job. But alas, we all have our kryptonite.

 **Desani** : I’m going camping with Kel this weekend. Some lake house her parents own. Sleeping bags, s’mores, the whole shebang.

 **Lenessi** : Oh. That’ll be fun. For you. And her. With no one else there. By yourselves. In the woods. Alone.

 **Desani** : Okay, are you making fun of me or trying to warn me about an axe murder?

 **Lenessi** : Both? Yeah, definitely both.

Sonnett rolls her eyes and prepares for the immediate call to follow, where she knows details will be demanded. They talk for hours, as if they haven’t been calling daily for the past couple of months anyway. They conclude that Sonnett is required, by Lindsey’s status as her best friend, to give an in-depth report once she has proper cell phone service when they return from the trip.

\---

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you’ve never been camping before? Am I right?” Kelley eyes Sonnett up and down, startling the younger player as she unloads her overly packed car.

“Does sleeping in a tent in my own backyard count?” Kelley doesn’t know whether to laugh at the girl’s response or at the way that she fumbles around trying to stack all the bags and cooler’s she had shoved in her car.

“Also, hi! Long time no see,” Kelley casually throws an arm over the younger player, and lays a gentle kiss on her hairline.

“Mm, technically we facetimed last night.” She is pinched for her witty remark, but finally gives in to the halfway hug Kelley forced upon her. “I brought everything on the list you made…and may have gone overboard with the drinks and snacks.”

The squirrely brunette abruptly changes the topic, eyeing the younger player up and down. “You look good, Em. Looks like you’ve got some sun, and have been working out. That’ll be good.”

“Don’t think you can butter me up and trick me into setting everything up. We agreed, I would bring the essentials, you would be the camp leader. No takesie backsies.”

The brunette rolls her eyes as they load up her car. “Don’t think you can kick up your feet once we’re on the road by the way. I need a navigator to keep me awake. If I can’t nap, neither can you.” Emily mumbles ‘okay bossy,’ under her breath, and crams herself into the over packed car.

\---

“So you’re telling me we’re supposed to sleep in that…when there’s a perfectly good cabin…right back here? Okay.”

It had taken them a few hours to reach the cabin. Emily stayed true to her word and forced herself to be the best DJ possible on their way up- mainly for her own entertainment. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little sleepy or cramped from sitting with her multiple book bags shoved underneath her feet the whole ride.

“Well, you can stay in the house if you’re gonna have that attitude, bucko. You agreed…rather excitedly when I brought this up a couple of months ago. And even last night you sounded more than willing to rough it out.” Kelley stares the woman down as they finally step out on onto her family’s makeshift campground. The camper wasn’t anything extravagant, and seeing that it required some assembly made Emily nervous.

“Like I said, the camping life is not for everyone. We could stay back in the house,” Emily could hear the sincerity in Kelley’s voice as they grabbed some of the bags and neared the bench and fire pit.

She felt bad that she was letting her cranky mood get the best of her, and knew that if she had this mentality the whole trip, it wouldn’t be any fun. She was nervous, and the energy was manifesting into irritation, which needed to stop immediately if she was going to convince herself, and Lindsey, that this trip was just two friends bonding after months of not seeing each other. If something happened, then that’s cool too. No pressure or anything.

“No. I’m just being a baby. I need to wake up a little more before I start going full nature woman though.” She rubs her eyes after taking a seat on the bench, and finally takes in her surroundings.

“Goddamn, Kel. Why don’t you just live here. Screw Atlanta.” She hears the brunette snort, and not so gracefully throw herself down onto the bench next to her after she finished unloading the car.

“Were you not literally just complaining about how isolated it was two seconds ago.”

“You have been friends with me for how long? You should know I need my beauty sleep. I am running on fumes right now.”

After being teased for falling asleep sitting upright on the bench, ‘like an old man’ as Kelley put it, while she waited for the camper to be set up, the younger player decided the only way to wake up and get adjusted to the humid Georgia heat was to jump in the lake.

With no warning or provocation, she jumped in off the pier, clothes and all. Unlike most lakes in the Georgia area, it was clear and lukewarm, giving her no fear that a dead body or unknown creature would snip at her feet while she swam around.

The immediate relief she felt was almost angelic, removing her grogginess, and instantly cooled her off. Taking notice of the flower beds so close to the shore, and how well kept every part of this little makeshift area was, she felt like this entire spot was something out of a DIY dream show- even the fire pit and frame for the stack of wood had matching metalwork. ‘Absolutely ridiculous’ she thought as she finished up swimming around.

She recalled her conversation with Lindsey, and noticed that Kelley had been quieter than usual as well. They had talked about the tournament, and kept normal conversations, but it had all been things they had been talking about over facetime for the past few months anyway.

Emily specifically thinks back to her conversation with the other blonde, as well. After arguing that Kelley was ‘just like this with everyone,’ Lindsey refuted her statement.

“She asked about you. A lot. All I’m saying is just be honest with her. Don’t fucking scare her off and profess your undying love, but see where it goes. Worst that happens is you both feel uncomfortable because that’s basically like another extension of you and you end up laughing about it. But I doubt it. She doesn’t hide much, and she hasn’t been hiding how much she cares.”

Once she pulled herself to shore, it felt nice to feel the heat radiate off her body, her clothes no longer sticky and tight from the humidity. She had honestly, and maybe selfishly, forgotten about Kelley’s trying efforts to set up the camper, wrapped up in her own thoughts of fully letting go and relaxing.

The swishing and squishing sounds of her clothes drew a smile on the older brunette’s face as she sat by the fire pit. She had watched the whole scene unfold and had long been done setting up. She had contemplated joining the younger player as the sweat dripped from her own shirt, but wanted to let her have her own moment of serenity, and honestly didn’t mind watching for her own self interest.

“Check me for leeches, Kel. I’m not recreating that scene from Little House on a Prairie with you. Also, I’m starving, and I fear I may wither down to nothing if we don’t eat soon.”

“First of all, I’m not recreating shit with you, you’re fine.” She gets up and pulls Sonnett towards the camper, too impatient to wait and show off her hard work, while also wanting to shut up the younger girl about the food situation- knowing how naggy the blonde could be when she was hangry. As they walked with Kelley basically dragging her, Sonnett feels Kelley eye her up and down. She notices the sharp intake of Kelley’s breath right before they get to the camper, and felt her grasp on her loosen. She thought it odd, and shivered a little when a gust of wind picked up but ultimately dismissed the sudden shift in mood.

“Food is in the cooler, towels are under the cabinet, and your suitcase is on the bed. Change, then we’ll make dinner,” Kelley states very bluntly, then turns around to presumably set up the fire.

Walking into the small camper, she is surprised how much space there is. It’s not one of those giant RV’s that she was expecting, but it has all the comforts to make this a bearable trip. Unlike most pop up campers, this one has a toilet and a shower…if you can call it that.

She would have to ask Kelley how it worked, and would also have to ask where she was supposed to sleep. There was only one large bed, a semi kitchen, and then whatever this ‘bathroom’ set up was. She also noticed that the camper had a surprising chill to it, then noted that there was in fact a running air conditioner that was cooling it off. Standing there in her wet clothes made her chill become more apparent. She was glad that she packed sweatshirts and sweatpants for the night.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a camper like that…or a bathroom like that,” the blonde states as she plops down next to Kelley on the bench, prodding at the fire. “Let’s do some rice and vegetables for dinner. I’ll cook, you can swim or change if you want, you have to be exhausted too, Kel.” She gets a relaxed half smile in return, but the brunette makes no attempt to move.

“I’ll show you everything on the inside after we eat. It’s a cute little camper, but people always get confused by the bathroom- it’s easier just to show you rather than explain it.”

After their meal, which Emily is admittedly very proud of for cooking over a fire, they forgo the camper tour, and decide to walk the trail around the lake. It’s quiet between them, neither one of them wanting to ruin the calm that has been established. Emily also thinks the heat and exhaustion was getting to them. Both agreeing to take a much-needed nap as they finished their walk.

“I’ve never been this tired on a vacation before, I’m sorry Kel.” The yawn that follows wasn’t intentional, but proves her point.

“You’re cute. I’ll show you how everything in the camper works, then we can nap. I don’t want to wake up to you accidently turning the shower on and getting everything wet.”

The compliment is a little bold, stunting Emily for a second before she realizes that Kelley is mistrusting of her and the basic functions of a shower. “Shut up. I’m not that dumb.”

Kelley and her clinginess rears its head once again, with the brunette pulling Emily along, clearly wanting a nap sooner rather than later. Her hand never leaves Emily’s wrist, even when they make their way into the camper, she only drops once their inside. She positions her body so she’s behind Emily, using one arm on the blonde’s lower back to guide her, and the other to point at what she’s talking about. No personal space was present. Emily could feel every puff of breath against her neck, having to physically restrain herself from shivering.

“So, the kitchen. There’s a two-burner stove, and a sink. Not much to work with, but in case it rains, we have that. The dining room,” she says swiveling Emily’s body enough to look at the table and bench, “very high class. It’s a removable table, and a bench that turns into a small twin bed. For the kiddies.” She shuffles them along, pushing Emily toward the confusing bathroom area, “this is the toilet and shower. It’s a wet bath, so all the water that goes on the floor runs out. There’s a curtain that goes around the entire thing, and a shower head. It’s not the most comfortable thing, but it’s better than bathing and using the potty outside.” She scoots them back, and not so gently pushes Emily onto the large bed on the other end of the camper…which is all but a few steps away from the other end.

“The master bed room. Again, very high class. Very luxurious. It’s just a queen-sized bed. The netting unzips if you want to see outside, but since we had the air on earlier, we should leave it closed to keep it cool.”

Emily hums in response, kicking off her shoes as her feet dangle over the edge, feeling the bed dip next to her as Kelley joins her. “It’s very comfortable in here. Thank you for bringing me, Kel.” She already feels herself nodding off to sleep, and makes herself get up when she notices Kelley rustling with the pillows next to her. “How do I pull out the bed in the kitchen? I’ll set up my stuff.”

Kelley looks at her like she just announced she eats glass for fun. “Shut up. You’re not sleeping on a kid’s bed. Just don’t drool and we’ll be fine.”

They look at each other from a moment as Emily relaxes and readjusts. She wants to be brave. To say something, do something. Acknowledge some part of her desire to not just be Kelley’s goofy younger friend.

“You’re so pretty.” Her voice comes out raspy, and her words a little slurred as her eyes start to close. “So pretty. All the time. Not fair.” She feels Kelley’s hand on her cheek as her eyes shut, sleep giving her no choice but to succumb to its whim.

She wakes up, disoriented and surprisingly sore. The sun must have been setting, as a golden hue tints everything around them in the camper. Kelley was still out cold, the hand that was once caressing her face had dropped to loosely hold Emily’s wrist. The contact points between them were minimal, entirely innocent, but still enough to make Emily’s stomach turn into a giant knot. Their knees and thighs were aligned, and both of Emily’s hands rested in the small space between their bodies. It felt domestic. Familiar.

She loses track of time as she continues to stare at the woman next to her, tracing meaningless patterns up and down the woman’s arm, focusing on the varying shapes the freckles made and how, even at rest, her arm was taught, proof of Kelley’s insane fitness level. She startles a little when she notices Kelley’s breathing changes, only to look up and see that the woman staring back at her.

“Sorry. I’ve always wanted to look at your freckles. Your arms are just…so crazy hot,” she admits, still feeling the haze and unfiltered effects of her nap. She feels more than hears Kelley’s chuckle, and continues watching for Kelley’s reaction as she continues to explore the woman’s arms, moving up toward her bicep as the room stills.

She doesn’t mean for her touches to be ticklish. But they must be as Kelley obviously and unsuccessfully represses a squeal. Emily laughs as Kelley shoves her head into the crook of her neck. This isn’t a normal position they would be in, but every part of Emily tells her that this is something she wants more of.

“Let’s do s’mores and watch movies tonight.” Kelley’s request is muffled, with her lips resting so close to her neck she can feel the subtle movement against her skin.

“I brought my iPad and downloaded some stuff to watch. It’s just like a normal girl’s night.”

That sentence is proof that Kelley is making an active effort to make this feel ‘normal.’ It’s not an outward admission of mutual intentions. But it’s also not a ‘normal girl’s night.’

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll let you pick if you can start the campfire.”

Kelley sits up right and looks at Emily quizzically. “Hmm, strange use of the phrase ‘let me.’ My iPad and my camper, jerk. Also that’s a horrible trade-off. I already knew I would have to start the fire. Trusting you with a lighter and lighter fluid is like giving a baby a knife and hoping nothing happens.”

‘You’re so mean to me,’ Emily mumbles as Kelley finally removes herself from the bed.

The fire, the smell, and the slight crackling in the air from the wood screamed home to Emily. Despite the slow adjustment of them returning to their normal banter and quirky antics, the draw between was inescapable.

“Tell me something I’ve never knew about you, Kel.” She asks across the fire, taking a bite of her s’mores as she waits and watches as Kelley tries hard to think of something to say. The brunette settles down next to her on the bench, and can almost see the lightbulb in her head go off.

“Since the first day I met you and all the new girl’s, I always knew I would like you.” Emily rolls her eyes, remembering her first day of training with Moe, who had already been introduced to the group before her. Kelley immediately declared them the Georgia Peaches, and hosted a girl’s night between them that consisted of listening to old 80’s country and drinking the cheapest beer they could find- without Elis or Dawn’s knowledge.

Emily rolls her eyes at the easy cop out, but accepts it for what it is. Kelley awaits her own response. She watches as the brunette tries to take a bite of the s’more, with all of it getting on her chin and her lips.

She reminds herself to not thirst over her teammate, even if she has internally given up on that battle.

“I got a girl’s number in Australia once. We went to a bar for some chit chat or whatever, and she got a little frisky. Caitlin and Ellie both saw, because of course they followed me to the bar. So, for the rest of the season, they called me ‘over easy Sonny.”

“Lame. Here, I got one,” she’s not sure if it’s the way the flame is making Kelley’s cheeks warm, or there is a natural blush on her face, but it intrigues her. “Earlier today, after you jumped in the lake, I had a really hard time looking at you.” Emily is a little taken back. She had noticed the shift, but didn’t think her swimming would repulse the woman.

“You...” she stutters and hesitates, sounding nervous if Emily’s ears didn’t deceive her. “You make me feel like me, again.” They both are too timid to look at each other, so Emily watches as Kelley picks at the traces of melted marshmallow on her hand. “Watching you swim, and just fully let go… I missed seeing that. I missed seeing you. And then you got out, and I can see how hard you’ve been training during the off season, and it just made me love that I get to see you like that.”

“Back up, Miss Kelley. Are you saying you’re looking at this hot bod?” Kelley chuckles, slightly pinching at her ribs.

“Shut up, of course you only heard that part. But I missed you. I really did.” Leaning into Sonnett’s side, she breathes a little after feeling the air between them clear.

“I missed you, too.” As if on cue, thunder breaks the silence. The air had been sticky all day, and it had escaped both of them to look at the forecast. She hears Kelley mutter ‘fuck’ under her breath before pulling herself way to put out the fire and secure the camper.

“I’ll pack everything up and I’ll get the camper ready for us. Just don’t get distracted by my crazy glutes as I move everything in, Miss Kelley.”

She earns a quick ‘fuck you,’ before grabbing their food and coolers and running in.

The storm rolls in quickly after, Sonnett had just set up the iPad and turned on all the lights when Kelley emerges, half soaked from the sheets of rain that had quickly moved in.

“Please turn off the air, I’m going to freeze to death if we keep it on tonight.”

“Go change, I’ll turn it off, and get ready for bed, too.”

Thankfully, Kelley uses the weird bathroom area to change, giving Emily a chance to see how the fuck that works. It’s just a giant privacy curtain that splits the bathroom area from the rest of the camper. “If it gets bad, we can just go to the cabin. I don’t want either of us getting colds for the sake of making this trip finally happen.”

They both get done changing around the same time, and have to laugh at how similar their sleepwear is. Both adorning boxers and tank tops, despite the slight chill still in the camper.

“Pick your movie, miss ‘it’s my iPad anyways,’ Kelley rolls her eyes as she jumps onto the bed. The amount of blankets and pillows was a little overkill, but sparked an idea for Kelley.

“You make a fort while I pick the movie. Since mother nature put out the fire that I worked so hard to start.”

Sonnett struggles to get the pillows to stand upright to cover, but calls it finished when she throws an extra sheet over. “I give it a 6 out of 10.”

“Shut up. I went to school for sociology not fort making.”

The movie was okay, it’s some thriller that Kelley had downloaded at the start of quarantine and had never gotten around to watching. She knew Emily wasn’t the biggest fan of horror, but it only seemed fitting to play something a little spooky given their situation.

Emily could care less though, she was distracted by the knot in her lower back, rubbing at it and wiggling around to try a position that relieved the pressure.

“You’re going to knock down your own fort if you don’t stop moving, Em.” She stops when Kelley comments, giving her a quiet sorry as she tries to ignore the sharp pain.

“My back is killing me,” she admits, her knuckles turning white as she lays flat on her back. Kelley meets her eyes, finally pushing the girl on her side to see if she could help.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you’re just using me for my massage skills as this point.” Emily hums, then gasps when she feels Kelley’s thumbs dig into the spot that was bothering her. She would be embarrassed by the moan if they were in any other situation, but the relief is instant.

The iPad gets kicked further down the bed when Emily flips to lie on her stomach, the fort no longer even a fort, more so a mess of blankets and pillows thrown to the side of the sleeping area. “Right there please,” Kelley’s ears burn hot as she sits off the side of Emily, hearing those words and feeling the subtle moans of pleasure the younger girl let’s out as her hands dig deeper into the spot on the woman’s back.

Her tank begins to ride up, Kelley using it as a chance to dig even lower on the woman’s exposed back, just above her butt. She chances it, and slides both her hands to firmly grip Sonnett’s waist. She can feel how Sonnett raises her hips, almost instinctually with the sudden pressure around her.

“May I touch your butt, or are you going to be weird?” Kel tries to sound as serious as possible, but feels her voice shake in her throat. She gets a hum in response, Sonnett’s head still buried into the pillow under her face.

Repositioning herself so she’s sitting in between the girl’s slightly parted legs, she continues her work, smoothing over the soft fabric of the blonde’s boxers with her hands, making sure the girl is adjusted to her touch. “I’m going to add some pressure to your hips then work down, let me know if any of it hurts.”

Sonnett likes that Kelley tells her what’s she’s doing before she does it, but is fighting hard not to get turned on by the way Kelley is holding her so strongly between her grip. Feeling the woman’s hands slide around to the front of her hips then down to where her thighs and ass meet makes her gasp, hard.

“I’m sorry, Kel. Keep going, I’m just so not used to massages anymore.” She lies through her teeth, trying to soak up as much as she can in case this is just a one-time thing with Kelley’s risky and unbashful requests.

The brunette continues, biting her lip each time Sonnett’s hip rises with her added pressure. This feels like intentional torture, Sonnett thinks. Her weak will and confused stance on where they lie makes it impossible for her to ask for more, despite feeling like Kelley has to know how aroused she is. The noises come unintentionally, and she’s sure that Kel can see how wet she is, even through the layers of clothes.

“Turn around for me, Son.” Kelley’s voice is soft, and a little hoarse. The blonde flips, now on her back, using her arm to cover her beet red face, in hopes to hide how flustered she has become.

Kelley’s hands remain working on her hips, digging into the girl’s side and smoothing out over her stomach. The pressure suddenly stops, and she feels Kelley’s arms planted on the side of her face.

Before she is able to remove her arm from covering her face, she feels Kelley use her nose to trace up the side of her neck, her breath is hot against her pulse. The sensation makes Sonnett shudder. The low chuckle Kelley let’s out makes the blonde want to cross her legs to relieve any of the pressure.

“May I kiss you, Em?”

If she thought her heart was beating out of its chest before, she was flat lining now. She nods, giving a quiet and strained yes as Kelley continues to trace up her neck with her nose, placing indescribable kisses along the way.

Just before she reaches her lips, Kelley pulls away, “you look wrecked Sonny.” The blonde groans, feeling how hot her entire body is under the weight of Kelley. Her hair is sticking to her neck and forehead, and her bun is long destroyed from being shoved into the pillow and her arm.

“And so fucking beautiful.”

The teasing is unbearable. “Fucking kiss me, please Kelley.”

Emily strains her neck to meet Kelley’s lips, and feels every nerve ending ignite with the touch.

The soft and timid kiss quickly turns to hot and needy. Kelley’s lips stay light on Emily’s, but the blonde refuses to let her own body reject what her mind wants.

She turns Kelley’s moves against her, using the slight pause in Kelley’s action to get her point across. She uses her nose and parted lips to start working at the base of Kelley’s neck, pulling her shirt aside to bite and suck, wanting to imprint this moment on the woman’s body, marking her as her own.

“Shit Emily,” hearing her name causes her to buck her hips. As she bites and licks up to the woman’s ear, Emily moves her hand to slide in between their bodies, pressing against the seam of their boxers.

Emily looked up, noticing how dilated Kelley’s pupils were, then felt a sneaking hand behind her, unhooking her bra. They fumble slightly to remove the item of clothing, and still as they stare at one another.

“Like this…if that’s okay.”

Kelley nods, aware of how reserved and nerve wracking this may be for the blonde.

She moans suddenly as Emily cups her crotch. Sonnett can feeling the wetness through underwear. “Keep kissing me,” Emily all but begs, Kelley complies, even if it means she’s out of breath and entirely distracted by the feeling of every subtle motion of Emily’s fingers against her core.   
  
As their lips meet, Emily uses both hands to grasp at Kelley’s hips, pushing their cores together, earning a soft moan from them both. Their bodies fully encompassed one another, with each woman using their hips to create a rhythmic motion of friction.

“Sonnett, I really want to touch you.” Emily places a hand over Kelley’s, placing it in between their bodies again.

The younger player thrusts against Kelley’s hand, pressing it into the other girl’s crotch in the process, helping them both get the friction they desired. If she wasn’t about to combust from how turned-on she was, she would be embarrassed by how innocent and remedial this is, but quickly lets that thought go as she feels Kelley’s lips on her neck again 

As Emily drew closer to her climax, she sucks and bites at Kelley’s ear, wanting the girl to hear how she was making her breath hitch with every thrust.

“I’m close,” Emily whispered, both their bodies hot and sweaty from their motions, teetering on the edge of climax. Kelley started making tight circles on the woman’s covered clit, bucking her own hips to add pressure, watching Emily slowly become undone as her orgasm rippled down her body, her breath becoming erratic and her body tensing and shaking with each rotation of Kelley’s fingers- the sight alone almost pushing Kelley to the edge.

Kelley pulled her hand away, and softly kissed the blonde’s forehead as she tried regaining her breath.

“Are you close,” Emily asked as she feels Kelley gently thrusting against her hips still. The older woman nods, before feeling Emily’s fingers dip into her underwear and press sharply into her clit, then dip down further into her slit, causing a moan to echo in the camper- something Kelley had never done before with someone else in control.

“I’m so close,” Kelley announces through gritted teeth, feeling the rush building up, and finally releasing as Emily’s other hand groped her sensitive chest. She slurred together a string of vulgar words, unable to keep quiet, and rode out her orgasm as Emily sucked at her pulse point.

Dramatically, Kelley collapsed onto Emily’s body fully, giving a content sigh as she felt soft strokes up and down her back. “So much for the movie,” Kelley joked, Emily pinched at her, too tired to keep up any banter.

The tin of the rain against the roof, and now hot room lulled Kelley quickly to sleep. Just before Emily couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer, she plays with Kelley’s crazy hair and grabs her phone to quickly and quietly send a text to Lindsey. 

**Desani** : You were right. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you enjoyed! This took way longer than I expected...but alas it is up. I have a couple more ideas for this story but I think I'm going to wrap it up in the next few chapters. Thank you all for the comments and kudos, you're the best.


	7. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays if you celebrate. Take care of yourselves and heres to hoping 2021 will be a safer and better year for all.

A flood of texts buzz in Emily’s pocket as her and Kelley make their way up a trail nearby the camper. After their morning coffee, the two decided that a hike would be best thing to keep their legs up.

Like anything with Kelley, it slowly became a competition- both pushing each other for no real reason other than to annoy the other. Emily was out of breath and they still had to reach the peak and make the trek back down.

It wasn’t until they sat perched over a valley that she could take in the view and appreciate the grueling task…and coincidentally get service again.

**Linessi: What?**

**Linessi: That was so cryptic. Explain.**

**Linessi: 1st base? 2nd base? Are you dating…give me something!**

**Linessi: This is torture.**

**Linessi: EMILY.**

The blonde almost drops her phone off the edge when Kelley comes up behind her and abruptly squeezes her sides.

“Get a text from your sugar mama? Look a little flush there, Son.”

She lets out a nervous chuckle before pocketing it again, putting it in airplane mode to guarantee nothing else came through.

“No. Just Lindsey making sure we’re both alive. But after this hike I might tell her I need an uber back to the camper. My legs feel like jello.”

Waking up and conversing with Kelley felt as normal as it could after last night. Admittedly, Emily was overjoyed when she woke up and felt Kelley still curled around her. A clearly intentional act too, as she noticed a fresh cup of coffee sitting on the small camper counter.

Minus the cuddling, there was no other indicator that their relationship had been unequivocally changed. No awkward ‘so this happened’ moments, or unexpected displays of affection from the otherwise very affectionate Kelley.

“I can carry you back down if you really need it. It’d be a great workout, but not sure if my ankles would ever forgive you.”

“With the way you were huffing, I would think otherwise, Miss Kelley. Maybe we just call it even and roll back down.”

She expected a laugh or some other type of witty rebuttal, but was met with the brunette’s unwavering stare.

“Can I help you,” the blonde questioned after the look continued.

“I like that…I like when you call me Miss Kelley.”

“Oh,” her mind blanked. A type of social panic caused her brain to short circuit- was she supposed to edge this conversation on or mock how serious Kelley was with her admission.

“Keep calling me that…but next time you make a joke about me being old or out of shape, I’ll jump you. Literally.”

“Only if your ankles can handle that,” she whispered under her breath- Kelley still heard. Her punishment was to carry both of their backpacks on the way back down, with minimal complaining.

“Son. Take a shower, I’ll cook us some lunch. Then we’ll figure out how many beers deep we can get without being hungover tomorrow. Sounds good?”

While showering, county music rang throughout the tin camper. Kelley, who refused to admit she could sing, was humming in the back.

The shower situation was awkward at best, having to use the handheld shower head. She knew Kelley would make a comment about how she soaked the curtain, and how it somehow hit the ceiling.

She felt bold when picking out her outfit for the day- shorts, tank top, and no bra. It was at least 90 degrees and humid, that was her reasoning- an excuse to feign innocence in case Kelley noticed.

“Wow. It actually smells great Kel.” An overwhelming smell of bacon and potatoes hit her when she opened the curtain.

“Can say the same for you. You were starting to stink up the place after the hike.”

They flicked each other off as they sat across each other at the table.

“So do you want to talk about anything?” Kelley was the first to even remotely bring up last night. They both picked at their food as Emily looked everywhere but Kelley. She could sense the resolute and smug look on Kelley’s face, and knew eye contact would break her.

“I, uh, I enjoyed last night. All parts of it.” She sped through the admission. All of it sounding like one word.

Kelley got the point. Yet still asked, “What in particular did you like about it?”

Sonnett couldn’t tell if this was Kelley’s way of acting dense to get her to admit feelings first, or if this was a genuine question to gauge her thoughts about the potential of them.

“I liked it all.” They make eye contact. Kelley looks softer than usual. Her typical judgement and reserve was down, even her body language leaned towards the blonde. She was entirely open, and her eyes begged Sonnett to explain.

“I could sit with you out in the rain, or by the fire talking about nothing and everything for hours, Kel. Or watch the dumbest movies and sit in the most structurally unsound fort ever and still have the time of my life.”

She took a sip of her drink to collect her thoughts before moving the conversation further, noting how flustered and smitten Kelley looked- a look that seemed out of Kelley’s range of emotions. Confident, collected Kelley now looked like a school girl longing for her crush.

Seeing a smitten Kelley, especially knowing that her breakup was still recent, made it seem even more baffling that Emily had a chance. Their interactions, even when boring or mundane, seemed so much more than ordinary, and her attachment to the other woman’s happiness motivated her to keep herself as open and receptive as possible.

It was an added bonus that Emily never wanted to stop staring at Kelley’s body, and that Kelley seemingly never wanted to take her hands off Emily’s.

“I like you…A lot.” Emily paused, watching Kelley fiddle with her own coffee.

“And I’m sure you’ve known that since our very first camp together. I was in disbelief all night… my mind couldn’t believe that I was having a beer with ‘the Kelley O’Hara,’ talking about the bar on 74th street in Peachtree, Georgia. It felt surreal, and sometimes it still feels like that. You make my life so much more...I don’t even know the word. Awesome, fulfilling, enjoyable? All of that and more honestly.”

She paused to catch her breath. She felt her own blush creeping up her face as she admitted, “And kissing you, Kelley. I could do that forever.”

The confidence she held as she pushed through her speech began to deflate the longer she waited for Kelley’s response. She fidgeted with the food on her plate as Kelley’s stare pierced through her- the brunette’s smile was infectious, but her silence petrified the blonde.

“Can you say something? I’m scared I broke you.”

“I love the way you talk. You’re so unfiltered, but in the best way. Also…I like you. A lot, too.” Kelley gave her her infamous smirk, continuing to finish up her meal.

“Did you enjoy last night, Miss Kelley?” Her impatience and need for affirmation overrode her desire to appear cool and collected, like Kelley always was.

The brunette finished her meal entirely before looking up from her plate -making Emily squirm as she thought of all the ways she should’ve backed off. To shut her mouth before she let every thought and emotion come out.

“I would be on top of you right now if I didn’t think you were absolutely terrified, Em.”

Kelley could tell that Emily wasn’t understanding her at all, taking in the girl’s glossed over look.

“Em. I have no problem repeating anything that happened last night with you. I’m just scared that I’m always pushing you, and it may not be something you want or-”

“I wouldn’t be opposed to you being on top of me right now...if you’re offering,” Emily cuts Kelley off.

The room’s mood suddenly shifts. Emily’s sarcastic yet daring comment ignited something in Kelley. A look that both terrified and turned Emily on.

It was a look that she had noticed more and more of in the past year. During practices or training sessions when they would do 1 v. 1s, after weeks of teasing from both ends.

A distinct memory of their first camp after the World Cup takes hold of Emily’s thoughts. After the partying and endless amounts of alcohol induced confessions, their relationship felt different. Emily didn’t see many minutes during the Cup, and Kelley was ready to risk her career to finish the final match against the Dutch. Emily beat herself up initially for being a bench warmer, but still tried to absorb and learn as much as she could from her competitors and teammates.

In the camp leading into the victory tour, Kelley singled Emily out almost every chance she got- pushing the younger player during conditioning, solely blocking her in during scrimmages, or questioning every tactical move she made when they returned to the huddle.

“Kelley, back off. I can’t breathe with you down my throat like this.” She had finally snapped after losing a shoot-out against Kelley, 5 to 4. The older player demanding ‘again’ under her breath when she saw Emily’s look of resignation.

“I said again, Em.” The tension was palpable, the other girls standing around now hushed their conversations and watched as they could physically see the dynamic begin to shift between the two defenders.

“Kelley. Back off.” She tried to sound just as confident and forward as the older player, but knew she had nothing on the way Kelley’s certainty made everything from her mouth sound like a fact.

“Make me.” Emily looked around as some of the staff and their teammates watched from afar, some laughing at Kelley’s pushiness, other’s giving Emily a look of genuine concern.

“Fine. Five to win.” Kelley nods, Alyssa leaving the box to join their teammates spectating.

As she passed, she leaned in to the blonde and whispered, “remember her ankle. She favors the right- push her left.”

She nods, and as they set up, Emily puts down the ground rules. “Four corners. Start with the top left then work your way around.” Like usual, Kelley’s face remains unchanged, thinking this will be a breeze.

Whether it was exhaustion, or the tip she got from Alyssa, Emily smoked Kelley. All 4 corners, and an extra shot down the center for her- Kelley was only able to net her third kick in the correct corner.

By the time the two had finished their cooldown, the rest of the team was long gone, already back at the hotel adjacent to the field.

“I want more of that from you. All of the time, Em.”

She watched as Emily undressed and switched to her street clothes. Her eyes only leaving Emily’s to not so subtly take in her chest and waist.

That was the first-time Emily can distinctly remember Kelley turning her on. A single look.

No physical contact or cleverly crafted phrase needed to spark the idea in her head that something about Kelley wanted her.

“You want me on top of you,” Kelley asks. It sounds more like a statement than a question. Emily nods anyways.

“After you shower.” Kelley laughs, her smile finally breaks her stoic façade.

“After I shower, you want me on top of you?” Emily crossed her legs, growing frustrated and tense the more the idea replayed in her head.

“Yes, Kelley. Please go shower.”

She found herself cleaning up the camper and perusing through the fridge to see the supply of alcohol she packed for the trip. It had been months since she properly drank anything- a glass of wine here or there with her parents didn’t count in her eyes. As she waited for Kelley to finish up, she moved outside to sit by the lake, sipping on an alcoholic seltzer. She knew Kelley would flame her for that choice, but didn’t want to have beer breath if the offer was serious.

By the time Kelley is done with her shower, Emily was on her second drink, starting to feel the buzz in her head and the heat in her cheeks.

Kelley loved the dopey smile the blonde gave her as she sat next to her.

“Having fun,” she asked as she tapped the can. Emily nods, a lazy smile still on her face. It was peaceful by the water, the wind made the heat tolerable, and the smell of the fresh flowers by the banks of the lake made it feel like she was in a dream.

“Close your eyes for me.” Kelley’s voice was softer. She felt her take the can out of her grip, the weight of the other woman’s body on her lap soon followed. Emily’s hands innocently found the outside of Kelley’s thighs, securing her against her body. Kelley’s hands wrapped around the back of Emily’s neck, and her breath reached her ear.

“I want you.”

She kissed that sensitive area behind the shell of her ear, the feeling and emotion making the blonde’s body tingle. Everywhere.

“I crave it. The way you look at me. And the way you tease me.” Each statement is accentuated with a faint kiss, leading to Emily’s mouth at an excruciatingly slow pace. She grips Kelley’s thighs tighter, pulling her in close.

When their lips meet, her body reacts in a way she has never experienced nor can control.

Her mind is focused on the feeling of Kelley’s lips on hers, the way their tongues meet, even for just a second, sending a feeling of such warmth and pleasure to her entire body she isn’t sure she even needs to be touched to come.

Her body instinctually pulls Kelley in, and her legs and hips move to match the rhythm of Kelley.

To calm herself down, she shoves her head into the crook of Kelley’ neck and licks and kisses any exposed skin she can. Her breaths come out in exasperated puffs, revealing how quickly she had become unraveled.

She chuckles, trying to hide it, but is unable to as the realization hits that both of them are complete messes after minutes of kissing. Kelley’s grinding against her slows down, and her own grip on the woman’s thighs loosens as she stops laughing, but can’t rid the smile from her face.

Kelley notices and can’t help but smile too.

“You drive me insane, Em.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologizes for empty promises about updates and one-shots. 
> 
> Working, this pandemic, and losing my mom (in May...and I am only now just coming out of that haze) has all but deteriorated my motivation with this little idea in my brain.
> 
> I truly hope that this next year treats everyone more kindly than this past year has gone. So keep it real, wear your masks, and know that it gets better. Happy holidays y'all.


End file.
